Match
by CaitySky
Summary: Max is a genius. She has a voice in her head that gives her the right answers to any problem. But her smartness makes her the 'Maximum' outcast at school. Will the new kids, with strange abilities of their own, befriend her or confuse the Maximum genius?
1. Chapter 1

"Max? MAX? MAX!" Mr. Barkley yelled.

"What?" I pulled my head off the desk and looked at him impatiently. He'd woken me from a good dream.

"What is the answer to the question on the board? And could you please stop falling asleep in class?" He asked politely, though you could tell there was a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

I sighed then said, "Yes Mr. B. The answer is nine to the square root plus two pi." I said, not even bothering to look up at the board.

"Thank you, that was correct. And can anyone here find the denominator for number two…" he droned on.

I simply hid my face below the curtain of my dirty blonde hair and read my book. At the end of class, Mr. Barkley called me aside before I could make a fast get away from the class room.

"Max, I don't know how you do it. You barely pay any attention to class, and it doesn't ever look like you study. Yet your grades are flawless. Not a single question wrong on any test or quiz, your homework is always impeccable. So why can't you at least pretend to care that you're interested to my lessons? It would make my job so much easier if I didn't have a class full of kids paying attention and one girl in the back snoring and drooling on her text book."

"Um, first of all, I don't drool. Though, I can honestly say, I do snore on occasions. But it's not that distracting. And second, if I'm acing your class anyways, why does it matter if I'm paying attention? I obviously don't need to in order to succeed. And you're the one who put me into this class earlier in the year because you said the regular math level wasn't challenging me enough. I'm in the honors calculus class, and acing it, and I'm only a sophomore. So I don't get it, what's the problem?"

"The problem is, you're sort of a bad influence on the other kids. And I don't mean it as an insult to you, I'm just stating the facts. It's hard to teach a bunch of teenagers when they see you goofing off during class. Just do me a favor, okay? If you feel like you don't have to pay attention in class in order to learn, just pretend to okay? And that's all I need from you."

"Fine, see you tomorrow, Mr. B." And I with that, I grabbed my backpack and ran out of the door to freedom.

Let me just start from the beginning here, so everyone is clear on what's going on. My name is Maximum Ride. I'm sort of a genius. Okay, I am a genius, but I don't like to brag about it. I have a natural ability to just, get things right. Except for a social life, that I'm still working on. At school, my grades are indeed perfect. I don't have to study, or really pay attention to anything. The answers just sort of come to me, like as if I had a voice in my head or something. Sometimes I wonder why I'm so smart, but it's not because I like being smart. In fact, I hate being smart. It's just that, I can't get along with anyone at school because they think that I'm too smart, creepy, weird, and hard to get along with.

Tomorrow is our final exams for the year. The last day of school. And I'm not worried at all. Everyone knows I'm going to ace everything I'm in, so it doesn't matter. But everyone around me is studying their butts off and I'm just going to go home and probably read a book after eating most of the food in the kitchen.

Another thing about me. I eat a lot. I'm not fat, far from it. I'm super skinny, almost unnaturally. But I'm able to down most of the food in the house without a second thought. So mom purposefully buys groceries every day so that my super fast metabolism will keep satisfied.

I also have a younger sister named Ella. She and my mom are able to speak Spanish, and look incredibly Hispanic compared to me. I just look like a blonde nerd, honestly. I have braces, dark glasses, blonde frizzy hair, and pasty skin. No tan, whatsoever. My sister, though she's younger than me by two years, is incredibly popular, really good at fashion, and her grades are decent. But she's envious of my smarts, and I'm envious of her natural popularity. If we could combine our gifts, we'd probably become the ruler of the world or something.  
>But anyways, after walking home, eating up half the food in the kitchen and then plopping down on my bed in my room. I opened up my book and continued reading.<p>

"Liliana didn't know what to do. She was trapped behind a glass prison. It held her in and kept others out. She pounded on the glass with all her might but it didn't help. She was stuck, with no one to help her. She stopped her attempts at freedom and fell in a heap in a corner of her cell. She cried her eyes out, but it did no good. She was about to give up on life itself when there was a shimmering glow of light from straight above her. And she shielded her eyes and squinted to see through the blinding light. It was…"

I heard a knocking at the door and Ella poked her head in and jumped onto my bed. "Hi there!' She said cheerily.

I groaned and closed my book. "What do you want, Ella?" I asked her.

"I want to give you a makeover for your last day of school."

"Why?"  
>"Because I think you need one."<p>

"What kind of reason is that?"

"A good one." She smiled and got up and ran to my closet before I could stop her.

"Ella, no. I don't want a makeover right now. I just want to read my book. Please, maybe next year when school starts up again you can help me out. But right now, I'm just not interested."

Ella groaned. "Fine, but no putting this off, got it? You're getting a whole new look whether you like it or not! And maybe that new neighbor girl from next door can help me. She's really fashionable, and we get along so well. You should really meet her, she's so much fun! They moved in this morning while we were at school. Will you come meet them with me tonight? The girl said that we could get together after dinner and talk in our backyards, and play games and stuff. I know you don't have to study, and I took all my hard finals today. So I'm good too. Pleeeeeaaaassseeee Max? They have a boy your age, and he's so mysterious, and cute, too."

"Okay, wow, Ella, stop right there. I'm not going anywhere tonight, or any other night till I finish my personal reading list. I still have this whole series to get through, and then that one over there. And that'll take me a good three days or so. So sorry, no can do." I pointed to a large stack of books next to my bed.

Ella looked defeated and crawled out of my room muttering how pathetic I was. Whatever, she can think what she wants to think. I just want to know how Liliana gets out of the glass prison.


	2. Chapter 2

Ella went over to the neighbor's house and I watched mom cook dinner while I read my book. Putting me in a kitchen is a hazard. One, because I'll eat anything that gets in my way. And two, because I'll burn water. I'm just a hazard in the kitchen, okay?

Anyways, so I couldn't cook, but I didn't want to be all alone in my room all night, so I decided to spend some time with my mom instead. She's a vet, and she gets home kind of late sometimes because she has emergency calls or something sometimes. So Ella cooks on the nights she's not home. But luckily, mom was home tonight, so I am able to eat some of her delicious cooking instead of microwaveable meals made by Ella.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, Max?" She asked while dicing some carrots.

"Why do you think I am so smart?"

"You know, you ask me that pretty much every single day, and I just do now, Sweetie."

"Yeah, but did you like take some smart-pills or something when you were pregnant with me, or did I get dropped on my head and get smarter instead of getting a concussion, or did I get abducted by aliens or something? I mean, give me some sort of clue here. It's kind of ruining me life." I said sadly.

"Ruining your life how?" She asks.

"I don't have any friends because everyone out there sees me as a freak. I mean, it doesn't help that I have braces, glasses, frizzy blonde hair and pasty skin, but my freakish smartness is definitely not helping my 'image.'"  
>"Well, if it makes you feel any better, your braces are coming off next week, remember your orthodontist appointment? And you can get a tan this summer, and we can get you contacts or cuter looking glasses if you really want."<p>

"Yeah, but what about my reputation at school? I can't change that over the summer."

"You actually can. Try to get a new look. And try not to stick out so much when it comes to being smart. You can get good grades and not be called a nerd, you know. Try a new style or something. Like flower child, or punk rock, or music goddess, or something along those lines. Find a look that suits you, and keep your grades up. I don't want you purposefully flunking just because you want to make a few friends. Got it?"

"Yes mom. But do you really think that'd work? Or are you just saying all that to make me feel better?"

"Honey, you should know by now, it's a mother's job to make their kids feel better." She smirked, and pinched my cheek.

"Well thanks a lot, I guess." I said sarcastically, and she continued to make dinner.

After mom had cooked dinner, the two of us sat down and ate it without Ella, since Ella called saying she'd stay for dinner with the neighbors. I helped her clean it all up and then we had pudding for dessert.

Later that evening I thought it over some more. I could get a tan this summer, though it might be difficult, but I'd try. I am getting my braces off. I can straighten my hair and get the frizzies out. I can get contacts or something cuter for my eyes, and I know Ella would love to give me a makeover with my clothes and makeup. So there is a possibility I can change my look before school starts up again next year. What I need now is a style that I can call my own.

I'm not cool enough to pull of a punk rock, or badass chick theme, but maybe I can do an 'I'm too cool for school look.' At least then it would tone down my already too perfect looking grade status. I could wear ripped jeans or tops on most days, darker clothing, fingerless gloves, and carry a less bulky backpack. This plan might just work!


	3. Chapter 3

The last day of school was boring. I finished each exam within thirty minutes each and I already know I got a perfect paper on each. Then I came home, finished reading three of my books and went outside in my bathing suit. I went swimming in our pool for a few minutes, then crawled into a lounge chair and got to work reading a few more of my books. I was also attempting to sunbathe.

After that, I went inside, ate most of the leftovers from last night, an apple, four yogurts and a bottle of water and went back outside to keep reading. When mom got home later that evening, Ella came out of her room for the first time since we'd both came home from school. She's been listening to her music, face-booking and texting people all afternoon. Whatever.

We ate dinner, which was just a quick pasta dish mom whipped up, and then cleaned up. Ella cornered me in my room later that evening.

"So when should we start the makeover?" She asked with a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"Why do you assume I'm any more ready for that makeover now, than I was last night?" I tell her.

"You were sun-bathing this afternoon Max. You NEVER sun-bathe. And besides, I know I can do something about your look. If you would just let me start already!"  
>"You know what Ella, fine. Go attack my wardrobe. But not me for right now, okay? I thought about it last night, and I figure the best new style for me would be a 'I'm too cool for school' look. That way it would counteract all the grief I get at school for being such a smarty-pants. Go work your magic on my defenseless clothing. Have fun." I said, shooting her a shoo-now-and-let-me-read look.<p>

She squealed and attempted for three hours straight to throw out all my not-worthy clothing and find suitable clothing for me to wear.

When she was finally exhausted, she said, "I'm going to bed, but I'll be back tomorrow morning to finish the job."

I nodded mutely and kept reading. Liliana had managed to escape and it was all thanks to a light fairy prince named William. And it was just getting romantic when my mom poked her head in and said 'lights out.'

Again I groaned and stuffed the book under my pillow so she'd be satisfied. And for the rest of the night I read under the covers with a flashlight.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up late the next morning, about 10:30, and Ella was already rummaging through my wardrobe now.

"Ella, what do you think you're doing?" I mumbled.

"Finishing your wardrobe, duh." She said, sticking her tongue out. "Then I'm going over to the neighbors. They all want to meet you, you know."

"Not until I'm done with this book, remember?"

"Fine, whatever. But Nudge, the girl I'm friends with, really wants to meet you. And the brothers all seem to think I'm lying when I say I have an older sister. You've really hidden yourself in your house pretty well, sis."

"It's a gift. Now would you let me get ready?"  
>"Ready for what? It's the first day of summer! Yay!" Ella squealed again and left the room.<p>

"She is just too perky this early in the morning." I grumbled.

Ella yelled from beyond the door. "I heard that, and thanks!"

"No prob, my nutso sis!' I yelled back with a chuckle.

I proceeded to get dressed in whatever the heck I could find left in my closet and walked outside to the pool with my book. I took my cell-phone and my collection of books I had to get through and plopped down on the lounge chair outside.

I started out by laying myself in the perfect position so that I could sunbathe while doing what I had to do. Then I dialed my mom's work and she picked up on the other line.

"What is it sweetheart, I've got a client coming in, in another five minutes?"

"I just was hoping you could schedule an eye appointment for me on the same day as the day I get my braces off. I want to get contacts too. Would that be okay?"

"Sure thing, I'll do that on my lunch break, okay?"

"That'll work. Thanks mom. Is there anything you need me to do while you're gone today?"

"If you could clean the pool, that'd be it. Thanks hun, love you."

"Will do, love you too mom, bye."

And I hung up the phone. Then I opened up my book and read for a few hours. I finished the fourth out of my ten books total. I figure by the time I go to the eye doctors, and the orthodontists' I'll be done with all my books. And I'll also have gotten a b bit of a tan. Then I'll straighten my hair with Ella's hair dryer for a few days straight and voila, I'll have reached my goal of looking the part of 'too-cool-for-school' within only a week into summer break.

After reading I cleaned up the pool like mom had asked and then went inside and took a thirty minute nap. I was tired from staying up all night, and needed the rest.

Ella came home around the time mom came home too, so we all had dinner together again, this time it was tacos, and then we watched movies like we used to when I was younger.

I don't have a dad. Not anymore. My real dad left us when I was younger, and actually, Ella is my half sister. Mom remarried and had her a year or two after my dad and her left us. And then her new husband left us too. Mom's had a bad break in the husband department. But it doesn't matter. I like it better when it's just the three of us anyways.

I went to bed after reading a bit more, and went through a checklist in my head of all the things I needed to do before school started. With that, I went to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

One week passed, and I read my books, sun-bathed, swam a little and got attacked by Ella in the makeover department.

Finally the day of my orthodontist appointment and my optomologist appointment came and I was really nervous. Mom was there the whole time as they took my braces off. She'd even taken the whole day off, just for me. It hurt a little, and felt extremely weird for a while, but as soon as they handed me a mirror, I almost started to cry. I looked great! Better than great! I looked almost like a supermodel.

Ella had been straightening my hair every day and my hair was now manageable, and without the braces I didn't look like a nerd anymore!

As soon as we got to the eye doctors' I decided to make my look a little bit more interesting. Instead of getting regular contacts, I got purple contacts, and so my look looked even more awesome!

To top it off, I was now wearing the kind of clothes I figured would make me look ten times less nerdy. I wore ripped jean shorts and a loose, low-neck top, that was form fitting. It had a giant pair of brown wings on the back and the shirt itself was dark blue and silver.

To top it all off, I'd finished my last book on the car ride to the orthodontist's office.

So my checklist was now complete. If school had started tomorrow, I'm sure I would have been ready. But no matter. This was summer. The best time of year for a kid. And I wasn't going to waste it!

"Okay, now that you look awsome, and you've finished your books, could you PLEASE come with me tonight to meet the next door neighbors. Iggy, Fang and Gazzy totally don't believe I have a sister anymore. And Nudge is even starting to doubt me. PLEASE!" She gripped my shirt and begged.

"Okay fine. I'll come with you tonight." I chuckled.

"Yay." She said, and turned back to her cell-phone during the car ride home.

On the way out of the car, she told me that we'd be having a movie night with them into a sleepover. So I went inside to pack my overnight bag and get ready.

Hopefully my new look would help me become friends with these kids. And actually, how much do I actually know about these people?

I know they have at least two, if not three sons, each with weird names, or nicknames, or whatever. And a sister named Nudge. Again, a weird name. So hopefully I'll be able to become friends with at least one of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Ella drags me up the steps to the neighbor's house, and that's when I begin to ask her what these kids are like.

"Okay, well they're all adopted, and very strange. But they're all really cool too. The oldest is Fang, he's 16, and he wears all dark clothing, has black hair, and olive-toned skin. Then Iggy, who's 15, the tallest, has strawberry-blonde hair, he's blind and likes explosives."

"Explosives?" I said with a weird look.

"Yes, explosives."

"Blind?"

"Yes, blind." Ella confirmed, then continued, "Then there's Nudge, who's real name is Monique. And Fang's is really Nick, and Iggy's is really Jeff. But none of them go by their real names, so you'll have to get used to their nicknames. Anyways, she's the fashionista, and she's eleven, and she talks a lot. She's African American. Then Gazzy, or Zephyr, who's eight, and he really hates his real name. And his nickname is pretty self-explanitory. Then lastly is Angel, who's real name was Ariel, but she hated the Little Mermaid, and she looks like an angel, so she goes by Angel instead. She's seven years old, and don't let the angelic appearance fool you, she can be pretty devious. And their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walker. Their both pretty nice, though the kids get away with a lot of stuff in that house. I mean, Iggy sets off bombs, Angel convinces them to take her to the amusement park every weekend, Fang never eats with them, and eats in his room alone, instead. It can get pretty nuts in there, so just be prepared." She concluded.

Just then the door opens up quickly and the African American girl, Nudge, is standing there in her pjs already with a big cheesy smile on her face.

"I never doubted you for a second!" She screams. "Hey Iggy, Fang, you two owe me 50 bucks each! She exists! The infamous Maximum Ride exists! I never doubted Ella for a second! There you are, standing there, in the flesh! THE Maximum Ride! Omg, this is so awesome! I'm totally going on a shopping spree with you Ella! We'll spend that $100 in no time! Or wait, should we just buy everything for Max, since you said that she needed the new wardrobe or…." A hand was slapped across her mouth.

"Nudge, I swear I won't pay a cent if you don't shut up!" A strawberry-blonde, tall boy says. Iggy. "So, where's the proof she exists? I don't see anything."

"Max, would you mind saying something to prove to Iggy you exist? Pleeeeaassee?" Nudge whined.

"Uh, hi?"

"See! See! I told you I had a sister!" Ella chimed in.

"Ugh, fine, here." Iggy huffed, and pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet.

"Where's everyone else?" Ella asked.

"In the basement, prepping for the sleepover. And Fang's up in his room."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Ella said again.

"Alright, so let's go on downstairs then. We can get everyone set up for the night, and pop in the first movie. Then we'll have pizza delivered in about an hour. Sounds good?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah, sure, fine by us." Ella said again, then nudged me, urging me to say something again.

"I hope you order a lot." I say.

"Why's that?" Nudge ask.

"Ella didn't tell you how much I eat?" I say incredulously. "Ella, you tell them everything about me except for how much I eat? That's practically like forgetting to introduce the president as the president before an inauguration ball, or something!" I practically shout.

"Sorry, it just never came up. Come on, let's go downstairs. I'm sure there'll be enough food for you." Ella and Nudge spit out at the same time, then stare at each other and shout 'jinx' then laugh their butts off.

"Oooookay. Let's go downstairs then." And with that we head downstairs.

In the basement, I met the most adorable little girl I've ever seen in my life. Angel was definitely fitting of her nickname. She's absolutely Shirley-Temple-Worthy! She ran up to me and pulled me over to the area where I assumed we'd all sleep for the night, and I immediately picked out the loveseat in the corner as my bed for the night. Angel, Nudge and Ella all giggled and I looked over to see what was so funny. But they each just shook their heads and started to talk to one another.

Then Iggy and another blonde boy came bounding down the stairs. I assume the other boy was Gazzy, since he couldn't possibly be the boy, Fang, that Ella was talking about.

After some more introductions and get-to-know-you games and shenanagins, we finally put in the first movie.

Somewhere in the middle of the credits, I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see a dark haired, darkly clothed boy looking more than a little miffed about something.

"Uh, is there something I can help you with… Fang, I assume?"

"Max… I assume. You're sitting in my chair."

I started pretend searching for something. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Looking for your name on the chair. If it's yours, you know the rules, it has to have your name on it."

With that he rolled his eyes and took out a swiss army knife and before I could say or do anything, he carved a letter 'F' into the couch and glared at me.

I wasn't going to scream about a swiss army knife, or a glaring boy. I've dealt with way more intimidating bullying at school. So I just glared back.

It was then, that I noticed the entire room was deathly silent. The movie had been paused, and everyone was gawking at me. It was just awkward. So I let up on my glare and sweetly said, "Here, if you'd like some space, I can move over and we can share the chair for now. It's a two-person seat, after all. Deal?"

He glared for another few moments, then wordlessly sat down next to me. "Play the movie." He said intimidatedly, and immediately Nudge hit the button again for the movie to begin.

Though the first few moments on the couch with Fang were awkward, there was something about him that didn't make me want to shy away like I usually do from random strangers. For some reason, this aggressive, rude boy, was actually less scary for me than almost every other kid I'd ever known in my life. Except Ella, that is. He didn't judge me like everyone else had. In fact, he let me win the little stand off we'd had. Which proves he thought I had courage and was worthy of sitting next to.

How strange this family is.


	7. Chapter 7

Once the movie had finished, Nudge turned it off so Iggy could order the pizza. He said he would've cooked something for us, but it turns out their parents weren't actually home. It was the only real rule they put on the kids while they were gone. No cooking without an adult present. So after the pizza finally arrived, we all lugged it downstairs and got set up in the same spots we were sitting in during the movie.

Ella immediately handed me an entire pizza and Fang tried to reach in and grab a piece, but I snatched the whole box away from him. He looked at me funny, and I re-explained to him, and everyone else, that I eat a lot.  
>Iggy then challenged Fang and I to an eating contest. Fang got an entire box and I kept the box I'd been given, and they gave us a whole minute to eat the entire thing.. He and I kept glancing over at each other in order to see how far along the other one was. And everyone was cheering us on and placing bets on who'd finish first. Ella, of course bet that I'd win, and Nudge said that she trusted Ella's bet, so she went with it too. Meanwhile, all the guys were busy chanting for Fang and patting his back, getting him water and making sure he won. Angel just sat quietly in a corner smiling.<p>

In the end, I think it was a tie game. But since Angel was our only real judge, and she'd been too busy laughing to really pay attention to who won, we decided to have a tie-breaking truth-or-dare game. Whoever chickened out first would have to pay up on the bets that we'd made. Fang, Iggy and Gazzy had all bet on Fang, so if they had more chickens then we did by one hour then we wouldn't have to pay up on any of the bets we made, and they would have to pay. Or vice versa.

Nudge volunteered to be the first one on the chopping block, and she chose dare. Iggy, Fang and Gazzy huddled together and tried to think of the best thing to make her do. When they came back to the group, Gazzy announced that she would have to take a potato chip and dip it into the onion dip, then put it in her mouth. But the catch was, she could only use her toes.

So Nudge got up, went to the chips and dip table and carefully maneuvered her foot into the potato chip bowl. Ella and Angel both 'ewed' and said they weren't going to be eating chips any time in the near future. I just told them there'd be more for me later, and that made them make pukey noises. Nudge was somewhat able to put the gross chip into her mouth an she nearly gagged as she swallowed it. But she did it, and so she got to dare the next person.

"Truth or dare… Iggy." She said with an evil look, that he obviously couldn't see, but he still gulped.

"Uh, truth?" He said hesitantly.

"Is it true that you put a stink bomb in each one of our sleeping bags when Max and Fang were having an eating contest?"

"What!" I screamed.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry Max. But you gotta give me props for stealthiness."

"Get it out now!" I screamed at him, and oddly enough, he did. Before, when I used to demand things nobody ever listened to me. But Iggy was immediately intimidated by my voice alone. He couldn't even see my new look. Was there more to this new look than just physical appearance. I'm feeling better and better about this transformation every minute!

After he'd removed some wired devices from each sleeping bags, he turned the question on to me. "Max, truth or dare?"

"Truth." I said without hesitation.

"Okay, Ella has told us a little bit about you and who you are. Is it true you're nerd?"

"Ella!" I screamed.

"I didn't say you were a nerd! I said you had braces that were coming off today, I told them you were trying to get a tan this summer and your hair can be a little unmanageable, and that you like to read a lot and are a genius. I never said you were a nerd!"

"Well there you have it then, Iggy. I'm not a nerd. Though all that stuff about me is true." I said sadly.

"Don't be ashamed of being smart, Max." Fang said unexpectedly.

"Huh?" I ask.

"You're a genius. We all have strange things about each of us that make us outcasts." He replied.

"It's true." Nudge piped up. "I talk way too much, and I can hack into any computer. I also have this weird sixth sense that allows me to know when someone or something has passed through somewhere, or if they disturbed something. Kind of like they leave an invisible trail of energy behind or something. That's why I knew Iggy had put the bombs in our sleeping bags."  
>"I can read minds." Angel smiled sweetly.<p>

"Really?" Ella and I said at the same time.

"Yup." She said, popping the 'p.'

"I have gas." Gazzy said.

"That's just gross, though, man." Said Iggy. "I'm able to cook, make bombs and hear better than anyone else here, even though I'm blind."

"Fang can turn invisible." Angel said again.

"That's impossible. Nothing can be turned invisible. Though fading into backgrounds is possible with camoflouge, kind of like with the United States army uniforms. Invisibility is actually a myth. I know, I've read tons of books on the subject." I say.

"You read tons of books on everything." Ella said rolling her eyes.

"Point taken. Anyways, Fang, then I dare you to turn invisible. I was going to choose you anyways."

"Fine." He said, and I watched closely as Fang somehow faded into the background of the sofa. All I could see left of him was a dim outline, and I swore I nearly lost my mind.

"That's impossible." I whispered.

Then Fang moved, and became visible again.

"So does that mean the boys win?" He asked, with a challenge in his voice.

"Not a chance!" Ella and Nudge yelled.

For a couple more minutes we continued the game, and we won because Gazzy was too chicken to give Ella a kiss on the cheek, and Iggy wasn't able to climb up onto the roof.

"Alright! Now we're totally going shopping! I've earned like $250! Let's all go tomorrow!" Nudge squealed.

"No way! I hate shopping, and dressing up! I'd rather just stay home and read or something." I tell her.

"I have a better idea. If Max wants to read all morning, fine. But Nudge and I will go shopping in the morning, and then tomorrow afternoon we'll all meet up again and go swimming in our pool. Sounds like plan?" Ella proposed.

"Eh, I guess so." I said. And everyone else agreed too.

"Good. Now let's watch another movie. Okay? I want to watch a Disney movie this time!" Angel begged.

We all agreed and we watched movies like that till nearly 2am. By that time I just kind of conked out. I don't even remember how I fell asleep or where, I just kind of collapsed during some random Disney song.

"_When will my reflection show, who I am, insiiiiiiide…."_


	8. Chapter 8

Fang's POV

I just met this girl, Max. She's our new neighbor, along with her younger sister, Ella. And I got to say, she's got balls. No one has ever stood up to me in any way, shape or form. She took my chair, nearly beat me in an eating contest, and on top of all that, she beat me and my bros at truth or dare. Not to mention she's smart, doesn't take any crap, and she's pretty hot too.

I'd ask her out, but that seems pretty stupid at this point. I mean, I just met her, and I know virtually nothing about her except she likes to read, used to have braces and can eat a lot. But there's something about her that makes me want to be with her.

I'd NEVER let anyone share my chair with me. EVER. Yet somehow, she just randomly comes into my life and I'm letting her sit there before I even get to know her. And I'm having an eating contest, showing emotions, and even intimidating her, but she won't crack. Something about her tells me that she's really down to earth too.

So I'm sitting here watching Disney movies because that's what everyone else wanted to do, especially my baby sister, Angel. (She's hard to say no to) And Max fell asleep on my shoulder. I would wake her up and tell her to move it, but for some reason I just let her stay there. It's okay by me for some reason to let her sleep right here, in MY chair, on MY shoulder.

Somehow I'm not surprised that a genius is making me lose my mind!


	9. Chapter 9

Max's POV

I wake up in pitch blackness and glance at my glow in the dark watch to find it's around 7 am. Then I try shifting and find that I'm kind of in an awkward position. So I try to push off of whatever it is I'm basically laying on, and when I do, I hear something groan beneath me, or rather, someone, groan beneath me. I knew immediately who it was.

I slept on Fang's shoulder. I slept on Fang's shoulder… Oh MY GOD! I SLEPT ON FANG'S SHOULDER!

I leapt off the couch and fell hard on my back on the wood floor. And in the process of getting up I not only woke up Fang, but I woke up Iggy with my yelp when I hit the floor. And he shot upright and said "Don't eat my pantyhose!" Then I tripped over Gazzy who'd been sprawled out right where I'd landed. So when I'd tried to get up I tripped on him and fell into the coffee table. And he 'oofed' in pain.

"I'm so sorry guys." I said sincerely while picking myself up off the coffee table.

Then Nudge, Ella and Angel woke up as well and Nudge said, "What's this about pantyhose?" And all of us burst out laughing except for Iggy.

Angel found the light switch and turned it on to see me falling over myself and the coffee table again, and Gazzy half laughing, half rolling on the ground in pain. And Fang just looked like he'd seen a ghost. Way to embarrass and bruise a guy's giant ego. Go me!

Iggy just covered his blushing face in a pillow. And Ella was screaming, "Ugh! The light! It burns!"

So suffice to say, I'd single handedly woken up, and embarrassed more than half the kids in this basement within five minutes of waking up. Again, go me!

"I'll go make breakfast." Iggy chucked the pillow away and went to the kitchen upstairs.

"Is he allowed to cook? He's blind right? And are your parents home yet?" I asked after plopping back down on the couch, but farther away from Fang now. I rubbed my eyes sleepily.

"Our parents usually get home around 10-11 pm on nights like last night. So they're probably still asleep upstairs." Gazzy said.

"And yes, Iggy, my blind brother, is allowed to cook on his own. In fact, he's the only one here who can cook on his own. Sad, isn't it? But he's really good at cooking. I think he's going to make pancakes, or waffles, or French toast, or eggs, or…" Nudge rambled, but I tuned the rest out.

I looked at Fang again to see that he was still a little shell-shocked from waking up the way we did. So I just curled up on my side of the couch and fell asleep on the arm rest.

A few minutes later, Angel was shaking me awake, saying Iggy had made breakfast and I should come upstairs with everyone else.

I stretched real fast and then climbed off the couch and trudged upstairs. Though I was pleasantly surprised when an amazing aroma hit me like a brick wall the second I had climbed up the last step.

He'd made bacon, eggs, pancakes and a fruit salad, and I happily grabbed nearly three plates full of food and went to go dig in.

After breakfast Ella and I had to go home, so Ella could get ready to go to the mall with Nudge, and so I could get started on another book series I'd just found at the library the other day. We decided that we'd meet up again at the swimming pool at 3:00, and then we'd hang out at our house for dinner.

So a few minutes later, I was waving goodbye to Ella and Nudge as they drove away with Nudge's mom for the mall.


	10. Chapter 10

Max's POV

Since most of my morning was reading, and I'm sure if I got into the details, all it would do would be bore you, I'll move on to the more interesting part of my day. After reading for several hours, I began to get ready for the arrival of the neighbors and my sister for the pool party.

I started by cleaning up the pool. There were toys and floaties scattered all around, so I put them away, then checked all the chemicals and stuff to make sure the pool would be ready for everyone.

Then I went inside to find an appropriate bathing suit. But that's when Ella and Nudge burst through my bedroom door.

"We're home!" They shouted simultaneously.

"I gathered that much." I said, a bit peeved that they hadn't knocked or anything. I could have been changing!

"Well don't get dressed for the pool just yet, we got you some stuff." Nudge said evilly.

"What do you mean." I said slowly.

"Come here Max, try this on. I found your size, but I want to make sure it fits…" Ella rushed me into the bathroom, throwing a bag into my hands.

I locked the door and peeked inside the bag. And I didn't like what I saw inside.

"There's no WAY I'm wearing this, Ella!" I shouted.

"Come on, please?" Nudge whined.

"Not in 50,000,000,000,000 years!"

"How about in 50,000,000,000,001 years?" Ella teased.

"Not even then!" I shouted right back.

"Come on, just trust us! That would look adorable on you. It's your color, shape, size, and it is completely fashion-worthy. We're only trying to make you look good!" Nudge reasoned.

"This isn't good! This is slut-!" I stammered.

"You promised to let me do your wardrobe! Are you reneging on that deal?" Ella warned.

"I trust your fashion sense on everything Ella. Just NOT THIS!"

"Do it, or so help me, we'll bust down this door and put it on you forcefully!" Ella screamed. Wow, I've never heard be so demanding in all my life. And I could practically imagine Nudge giving her a thumbs up from the other side of the door.  
>I'm in some big trouble…<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Fang's POV

I went back to sleep for a few hours after Max and the girls left. Iggy, Gazzy and Angel did the same, since we had all stayed up the longest. Ella, Nudge and Max had fallen asleep around midnight, whereas we stayed up a little longer, watching movies and stuff.

Anyways, so I woke up around 2, and grabbed a snack/lunch before changing into some black swim trunks. Then I grabbed a towel from the closet in the hallway and made my way downstairs where Iggy, Gazzy and Angel were just finding some last minute pool supplies. Angel had wanted to bring a beach bucket and shovel, but I had to explain to her that she would never need those at Max's house. So she sadly and grudgingly put them back.

Finally around 3, we made our way over to their house. Ella answered the door and told us the three of them would be down in a few minutes, and that we shouldn't wait to go in the pool, to hop right in.

So we walked to the backyard, lay our stuff down on the patio furniture and dove right in.

Iggy started a water war, so we were splashing and dodging and dunking each other underwater when Ella, Nudge and Max finally came out to join us.

Ella wore a purple 2-piece bathing suit, Nudge wore a pink 2-piece and Max refused to take the towel off from around herself.

"Come on Max, aren't you going to come in the pool with us?" Angel said innocently.

"Eventually, Angel, I'll just sit out for a little while, if that's okay." Max said. And I could have sworn she was blushing. Unfortunetely, she covered up most of her face with her hair like a curtain, so it was kind of hard to tell WHAT she was doing.

"She doesn't like the bathing suit we got her." Ella grumbled, as she hopped right into the pool with a cannonball.

"Yeah, we searched all day at the mall for the perfect swimsuit for her." Nudge did a funny jump into the pool then resurfaced, "And she doesn't even want to show it off."

"I want to see it." Iggy joked.

"Ig, you want to see anything!" Gazzy laughed.

"Yeah, well it's obvious that whatever those two had her put on is too much of a jump for her. She doesn't want to show off too much skin, and she's getting used to her new look." Angel wisely put.

"But aren't you going to swim?" Gazzy asked.

"Like I said, eventually. You guys go ahead, seriously. I don't mind watching. And at least you got me out here at all. I could be inside reading, you know." Max quipped.

I got out of the pool and sat down beside her. Max looked flustered at first to see me get out, then tried to relax when I casually sat down in the lounger next to her.

"We won't judge you, you know. We're all friends here, you know." I told her.

She looked up at me through the curtain of hair and said, "Friends? Really?" In a hopeful tone.

"Of course." I told her sincerely. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"I've never had a friend before, remember? The idea is kind of foreign to me." She said back.

"Just trust me. You'll have way more fun in the pool than you will sitting out here all wrapped up in a towel. Plus it'll make Nudge and Ella happy to see you wearing their outfit."

"Yeah, come on Max, please!" Everyone cheered.

"Please?" Angel said so cutely, I physically watched as Max's face changed into that 'aw' shape before going back to normal.

"Oh, alright!" She huffed, and got up from the chair and quickly unwrapped herself from the towel.

Now, I'm sorry, I'm a guy. I don't like fashion. However, I do check out girls every now and then. But Max looked amazing. And not just cause of the black bikini Nudge and Ella had her it. She had an amazing body. Curves in the right places, and a flat stomach, skinny, but muscular arms and lots of legs. Sorry, I'm a guy. Sue me.

She didn't seem to like just standing there on display though, so she jumped right into the pool in a graceful dive and resurfaced.

I kind of just sat there shell-shocked for a minute, then caught myself and followed her back into the pool.

I'm falling for not just a genius, but an amazingly hot girl!


	12. Chapter 12

Max's POV

I knew I'd get an… interesting… response to my… attire… ahem. But what I wasn't ready for was Fang telling me we were friends. That all of us were friends. When he said that, I think all my barriers came down. I became a more confident person. I became a risk-taker, a dare-devil, one confident chick!

Okay, maybe that, or his response just made my brain go on the fritz and now I'm completely insane. These are all possibilities. But still! I have friends now!

And his actual reaction to my bathing suit was priceless. He couldn't stop gawking! I mean, it wasn't like I was TRYING to impress him. Fang may be a badass boy, but he's kind of been jerk-ish since I met him. The only really nice thing he's done so far is allow me to pass out on his shoulder last night without waking me. Though, him being a boy, I guess I'm not too surprised he did that. But now he claims he's my friend, and he was so nice in how he did it, too!

I have friends. I have friends. I HAVE FRIENDS!

Anyways, so I started up the water war again by pushing Ella underwater by her head, and she squealed and fought with me underwater for a minute. Meanwhile, Gazzy and Iggy started pummeling each other with water again, and Angel and Nudge started splashing each other. Then Fang came to Ella's rescue by jumping in and tackling me underwater and away from her. So then it was Fang and Ella against me, Gazzy and Iggy against each other, and Nudge and Angel against each other. Eventually we all started rotating around who was attacking who, till the point where there really weren't teams anymore, we were just pummeling each other with water and dunking each other under the water.

After we were all thoroughly done gulping down pool water and beating each other senseless, we got out and mom had made dinner. It was pasta with meat sauce and garlic bread, and of course I heaped giant portion-fulls onto my plate.

Then we talked and laughed about random things for a while, and then I noticed Fang being all quiet in the corner. So I went over to join him on a lounge chair and we stared up at the stars together while everyone else was up at the patio eating and joking around.

"What's on your mind?" I asked him.

"Well, I've got to be honest, a lot." He said.

"Like…?" I prodded.

"Well, for one thing, you and your sister. I'm just like you in the friend department. I haven't exactly excelled at that either, you know. I'm pretty sure we're friends, but I'm not sure how I feel about that." He told me honestly.

"How so?"

"Well, I'm usually a very closed off person. I rarely talk. I'd rather hang in my room all day listening to music or drawing than hanging out like I did today. But yet, I had such a good time, and last night was fun too. And now I sound like Nudge!" he said in a joking, yet panicking voice.

I laughed, "Yeah, I guess this whole thing's got me pretty confused too. But it's nice to see that I can make friends, even if we do make up the biggest oddball group I've ever seen."

"I'm an oddball?" He said sarcastically.

"You can make yourself invisible, and are practically emo, not to mention, you said it yourself, you're usually silent!" I said defensively.

"Emo? I'm not emo."

"Yes you are." I insisted.

"No I'm not! I like black, and I'm quiet. Is that a crime?"

"Do you listen to dark music, write dark poetry, never show emotions, or cut yourself?" I ask him.

"Sometimes, no, not always, and never have, never will." He said listing each answer off on his fingers.

"Good to hear. But you're still part-emo then." I said with a cheeky smile.

"No fair!" he said in a whiny voice, which had me laughing even harder.

"Well, it looks like everyone's getting ready to go home." I mentioned, as I saw Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy and Angel get up and begin to collect their stuff.

"I had fun." Fang said as he stood up and began to grab for his bag.

"Me too, Fang. And thank you."

"For what?" he asked, surprised.

"For being my friend. For helping me enjoy this day in this ridiculous outfit, for not running for the hills and calling me the weirdest girl alive, even though I so clearly am. Just… thanks." I said.

Then I surprised myself momentarily by going straight up to him and giving him a hug. I don't even know why I did it, I just did. And it didn't even register in my brain that he was shirtless, unprepared for the hug, and everyone could see us. I just had to let him know I meant every word.


	13. Chapter 13

Fang's POV

She hugged me? And I was so not expecting it. I felt a blush creep to my cheeks too. Especially when Nudge gave me a thumbs up from the other side of the pool. I hugged her back though. Cause I meant it. I wasn't just kissing up to a random girl. And it wasn't like I was comforting one of my siblings. I was comforting a friend. I think she's my best friend. Maybe more?

I don't even know what I'm thinking. Her hug made my brain think two plus two is fifteen!

"Well, you better get going then. It's already 11!" Max said as she pulled away. There was a big grin on her face, but she also looked nervous, like she was expecting an asteroid to hit the earth or something. And with that she waved goodbye to everyone else and rushed into the house and upstairs.

Everyone stared at me and then I just gathered myself and headed towards my house, saying to the other kids, "Come on, mom and dad are in the house tonight. We gotta go."

They snapped out of their trances and followed me. Nudge wouldn't shut up about it. Gazzy had filled Iggy in on it too, and now he and Nudge were on either side of me telling me that she's totally into me, and I should totally make a first move, and I'm stupid to pass up a chance like this. But I pushed Iggy away and covered up Nudge's mouth and said my scary voice, "I'm going to bed, shut up about it already!" And slammed my bedroom door in their faces.

I didn't even bother to shower. I just sat their on my bed thinking over the past few hours. Could I possibly like Max?


	14. Chapter 14

Max's POV

What was I thinking? Do I like him? Am I insane? Why do I feel so weird about a guy I just met? Is he a friend? Is he MORE than a friend? How could this have happened not even a day after my major transformation?

Since I'm sure you, the reader, don't have the answers to every single one of my questions, I won't bother asking any more. But I will say this much, I have some research to do.

First I need to analyze the situation to figure out what his feelings for me are. Step two, I need to predict the outcome of any strategical moves I might be able to make, good, bad or indifferent. Third, I need to make my move, or not make a move, whatever the earlier data points to as a good idea. Step four, I need to collect my data to find out if the move I made, causes anything. And Step five, I need to stop thinking of friendship, or more than friendship as a five step scientific procedure. Sheesh, you'd think I'd learn by now, nerd-dom is never the answer to all life's problems!

Anyways, I ran upstairs to my room, took a fast shower to get the chlorine out of my hair and then got ready for bed. By the time I was done, it was only 11:28, which is early for a summer night, so I opened up a book, and was about to read, when I glanced outside and saw a light on in the window across from my bedroom.

Now, I don't normally snoop, and I don't know why I did this time, but I decided that it was about time I put down the book, and picked up a hobby. Like, glancing into neighbors' bedroom windows. Nerd for stalker? That's a fair trade, right? Right? Never mind.

Anyways, my window was already open because there was a nice summer breeze airing out our house tonight. So I stuck my head out the window, and peered carefully inside the poorly-lit, or maybe it was just a naturally dark room.

I could just barely make out a figure on the bed. Though only the person's head, which was covered by a hand. The figure appeared to be sleeping, so I didn't see the point to staring at a random sleeping figure. I pulled myself back into my bedroom and lay down on my bed as well.

Before falling asleep that night, I tried imagining who might be in that window across from mine.


	15. Chapter 15

Max's POV

It was almost three months after I'd met the neighbors, and they had truly become great friends.

Iggy was teaching me to cook. Gasp! And although my food wasn't great, I was still able to not burn anything too badly. It's an improvement, I guess.

Nudge was helping Ella update my wardrobe, and she'd give me pointers about Fang, even though I SWORE I didn't like him like that.

Gazzy and Angel were just too adorable to resist playing with. So I'd usually end up versing the two of them in some videogame or board game or something at least three or four times a week.

Ella and I still hung out like we used to, but now we were almost always accompanied with the group of them.

And of course, I know you all want to hear about Fang, right? Well, he and I didn't do all that much these past months. Whenever I was hanging out with his siblings, he didn't really show up. He was always in his room. Or whenever he wasn't busy, I'd get sucked into another amazing book. So we really didn't see each other all that much.

But soon enough, the first day of school rolled around. Ella had to practically drag me out of bed, since I was so unaccustomed to waking up at 5:30 in the morning.

We managed to get a ride to school from mom. When we got there, we immediately found Nudge, Iggy and Fang waiting at the front gates for us.

As I took my first few steps away from the car, I noticed people staring at me. Ella just held my hand encouragingly, but as soon as she saw her old group of school friends across the parking lot, she ran over to them, yelling to me 'good luck' over her shoulder before disappearing.

Okay, no biggie. I can still hang out with Nudge, Iggy and Fang, I guess. So I walked over to a happy, squealing, huggy Nudge, a confused Iggy and a (surprise surprise) silent Fang.

"Hi guys. What's up?" I asked them casually, as Nudge squeezed the bejeezes out of me.

"Ceiling or sky? I think?" Iggy said. "What's over there, Fang?" Iggy asked, pointing to a radiator on the side of the building.

"A radiator." Fang said, emotionlessly.

"Oh, okay, cool. It was making a weird noise. And where's the main doors to the building?" Fang turned Iggy around by the shoulders and said, "Over there."

"Okay cool. What do you say we all go in now?" He said in a 'duh' tone.

"Sounds like a plan to me." And we kind of lined up in a horizontal line and walked up the steps of the school building.

"So you know your way around here, Max. Care to give us a tour?" Nudge asked expectantly.

"Yeah uh, sure. Office is this way, just follow me." And I led the way to the office.

It was painfully obvious now that everyone was staring at the four of us. I mean, we must have been a pretty interesting sight. A chatterbox, a blind kid, a silent kid and a nerd. Well, a used-to-be-nerd. But still, we probably would have looked more normal if we were Dorothy, the tin man, the cowardly lion and the scarecrow going to see the wizard.

I opened up the double doors for the three of them and we all stepped inside the overly-air-conditioned main office lounge area.

"Names please?" The receptionist asked.

"Monique, Jeff, and Nick Griffiths (a/n that was the only real last name from the actual Maximum Ride books, so I'm going with it.)" Fang said to the receptionist.

"Ah, got it right here. Monique, you are in room B234, with Ms. Kingston for English. And I have Nick and Jeff here together in room C223 with Mrs. Juang for precalc first period. And what's your name, dear?" She looked up at me expectantly.

"Mrs. Jennings, it's me." I said in a 'duh' tone. But she obviously wasn't getting the connection so I said, "Max." Still not ringing a bell. "Maximum Ride, I'm a junior this year?" Now getting weirded out by her lack of rememberence for me.

"M-max? Is that you? I hardly recognized you! Look at you, sweetie, wow, you look amazing!" She said blushing furiously, and then handing me my assignment sheet as well.

"Thanks. Come on guys, let's go. I'll show them around. No need to sick Lissa or one of the other cheerleadears or jocks on them." I said, only half joking.

At my school, the way they introduced new kids to the school, is they had the most popular, and most school-involved kids in afterschool activities show the newbies around. Meaning Lissa, the head cheerleader, and Dylan the head jock were always told to show the new kids around. I never really liked either of them. They were, well, like any stereotypical jock and cheerleader were. Stuck up, mean, and felt like they new it all.

Last year, Lissa used to gossip about me to her friends, and I found out they were through a rude, and totally inappropriate note someone stuck on my locker. It said I was secretly a pole dancer named Sheeba at the strip club in down town, and that's why I never hung out with anyone and had such bad fashion sense; so they couldn't guess my true identity.

And Dylan just flirted with everything with two legs and a chest. Gross!

Anyways, so I was NOT looking forward to coming face to face with either of them this year, so I purposely didn't expose my new friends to those two.


	16. Chapter 16

Fang's POV

Summer was pretty cool I guess. But it wasn't long enough. Mostly because I kept chickening out on asking Max out. And I thought it'd be totally awkward if I asked her to do something with me for fun. Even just as friends.

Sooooo, I was waiting for her to make a move. Whether it was just to hang out at hers or my house, or go catch a movie, or go somewhere for ice cream, or SOMETHING! But I was desperate. I didn't care if she wanted us to go get our spleens removed and given to hobos, but I was praying she'd ask ME first. And she never did.

I wasn't going to lose my masculinity and my rep as a silent, emotionless guy, so I just let it all happen. Stupid stupid stupid!

Anyways, here's the first day of school, and I'm purposefully not blowing up at Max or anyone else about my thoughts, but I can't help feeling a little bit… I don't know… used? Ignored? I don't even have the right words for it, but I feel bad, okay!

After gathering our schedules we all started to head to first period since we only had a few minutes before the bell. Max showed Nudge to her class first, and then glanced down at her schedule for a minute. She scrunched up her brows for a minute, then asked for mine and Iggy's schedules too.

"They're totally the same!" She said with a big, beaming smile.

"Awesome, so I didn't just get stuck with Fangy-poo here!" Iggy said sarcastically.

Max and I rolled our eyes at the same time, and I smacked Iggy over the head.

"OW!" He said. "I'm blind, remember?" He whined.

"If only you were mute." I grumbled, and he fake gasped like a shocked girl.

"Offense!" He screeched, getting a bunch of random kids to stare at us. Greeeeaaatt. Unwanted attention. Just what I DIDN'T need.

"Let's walk into the classroom guys, we're kind of in the way." Max noted.

So we walked into the room and took three random seats in the back.

"Hey guys, I'm a little confused. My schedule usually has a bunch of way harder classes on it, like AP classes, or Honors, or stuff like that. I mean, there are a few of them like that, but not as many. What's that about?" Max said confusedly.

"Maybe your mom knew you needed a break from academics this year to make some friends. I could've sworn I heard your mom and mine talking about a month ago about something like that. I needed a guide, and you needed some friends. It makes sense, right?" Iggy pointed out.

I just kind of half nodded and took out a notebook and started to doodle.

"I'm not sure what to think about that." She said honestly. "Does my mom not think I can make friends now?"

"Well, you did have a reputation of being friendless before meeting us." I said honestly, but immediately regretted it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max said furiously.

"I'm just pointing out facts, that's all. I'm not saying you're incapable of making friends now. You just hadn't until us, that it, I swear." I said, trying to backpedal.

She huffed and opened up her backpack to grab some supplies. Iggy just scooted his chair back a bit and said, "Aaaawkwaaaard."

Thanks, Ig. You idiot pyro!


	17. Chapter 17

Max's POV

Fang totally dissed me! And, unfortunately, the fate fairies hate me or something, because WHO did I just so happen to run into right after this little spat between Fang and I?  
>Here are your choices…<p>

Lissa

Jorge of the Jungle

Santa Claus

Dylan

All of the above

A and D

Just take a random guess…

"Hi there! Who are YOU!" Lissa sing-songed to Fang.

I rolled my eyes and covered my head with my text book. Books are multi-purpose, you know? That's why I love them so much. Now BOOKS are friends!

Iggy just ignored their exchange and took a sip of water from his water bottle. I guess he was used to girls flirting with Fang or something.

"Hey there, beautiful. What's YOUR name?" Dylan sat on my desk and decided that he'd talk to my shirt instead of my face.

"Eyes up here buddy." I said. And Iggy spat out his drink all over Lissa. Then I started cracking up.

"OMG!" Lissa squealed. "What the &*^$ is your problem, you FREAK!" She yelled at Iggy, and he just looked guilty.

"Uh, hey Lissa?" I said, and she looked at me.

"How do you know my name!" She yelled at me as she was trying her absolute best to brush the spit-water off her way too low-cut, sparkly, pink top.

"I'm pretty sure that for the past eleven years of school, we've never been properly introduced. My name is Max, Maximum Ride. Your stripper friend? Remember?" I said, using my best prissy-girl accent.  
>Fang's eyes popped open to the size of dinner plates, Iggy was still choking on his water and laughing at the same time, and now, half the class was staring at us.<p>

Dylan wolf-whistled and Lissa just looked confused. "Here, Lissa, maybe this will ring a bell." I took out my old glasses from my backpack, and a stick of gum. Then I unwrapped the gum and turned around. I put the silver wrapper on my teeth, put the glasses on, and messed up my hair so it'd look frizzier.

"Ring a bell?" I said through a mouthful of foil.

"MAX!" She screamed and pretended to be so excited to see me. Dylan looked disgusted, Fang was still shell-shocked, and I heard whispering all around the room that sounded like, "That's Max? Who replaced her with a hot-alien-clone? What happened to Max?" Poor Iggy was still choking, so I spat the foil out of my mouth, and went over to him and patted his back till he was able to calm down, marginally.

"What happened to you? You look sexy!" Dylan stupidly said.

"Ig, can I borrow that bottle of water?" I asked him.

"Take it! Just take it! I don't want that death water anymore." He wheezed.

"Hey Dylan," I said.

"What?" he said expectantly.

I poured all the contents of the water bottle on his head, then said, "Now you and Lissa match. And Lissa," I said, and she looked shocked and scared now. "This is for you." I stuffed the used foil wrapper down her completely inappropriately covered chest. "Have some gum." Then I wiped my hands on my ripped jeans, sat down, and opened up a book.

I knew everyone was just staring at me now, so I looked up and said, "Move along. You want me to deal with all the starers?"

Everyone smartly looked away from our scene. But there, dripping wet and covered in gum wrappers stood the jock, and jockette of the school. Glaring daggers at me and Iggy. I gave them my death glare, and it worked. Go purple contacts! I looked like a devil child with these things on, I loved them!


	18. Chapter 18

Fang's POV

"Uh, Max?" I say after everyone stopped staring at us.

"What!" She asked me angrily.

"Why'd you do that to those two?" I asked in a 'duh' tone.

"Because they were trying to flirt with us, they forgot me from last year, and they made up vicious rumors about me last year. I call that payback." She said pointing to the two of them across the room now trying to help each other clean up a bit. Dylan had taken off his jersey and was in just his undershirt now. And Lissa was furiously using wet wipes to clean off Iggy's spit and Max's gum wrapper.

"What could they have POSSIBLY done to you to make you get like THAT!" I whisper-shouted at her.

"Like I said, apparently I'm Lissa's 'stripper friend.'"

"Elaborate please?"

"She and her minions wrote a note and pinned it on my locker. It said that I was hiding who I really am, a stripper at a strip club downtown, named Sheeba, and that I wore the not-so-appealing clothing I used to wear so that no one would guess my identity. Then of course, she also told everyone around the school the same thing, so EVERYONE believed it for a month and a half until the rumor died down." Max had said that so quickly I could have sworn she beat Nudge's record.

"It's not true, is it?" Iggy asked, and Max smacked him upside the head like I had earlier.

"OW! Jeez you two! What is it with you and hitting handicapped kids!" He complained.

"Who's handicapped, Mr. I can cook better than a master chef, build bombs and not need a guide with you 24/7?" Max quipped.

"Touché." He said.

"And no, I'm not a stripper named Sheeba who works downtown." Max said. "Just to clarify." She death glared Iggy and me; her death glare is getting creepier and creepier every day.

Just then, Lissa, who'd finally managed to clean herself up, came back over to me, and plopped down right on top of my desk. Meanwhile, Dylan went back over to Max and shamelessly started flirting with her again. God, would neither of these two take a hint? "Hey there, Cutie. How about you and me go on a date?" Then she whispered in my ear, "It'll make Max jealous." She giggled.

"Why the h*#^ would I want to do that?" I said, straining my voice from being it's absolute scariest.

She looked taken aback for a minute, and then proceeded to lean down and whisper nauseatingly close to my ear, "because you want to make her jealous, and I want payback for that little stunt she just pulled."

"How would you know what I feel about Max?" I said challengingly.

"First of all, I'm the queen of romance, so I just get these things. And two, because you just admitted it." She grinned at me. Her too-green eyes and caked on makeup making her look like the joker in a stripper costume.

But she did have a point, I seriously hate to admit. If Max knew how hard it felt to feel rejected and betrayed, maybe she'd finally admit that she likes me and wants to date. Either that or she'd try to castrate me in my sleep.

Though hey, she'd probably kill Lissa first, so maybe she'd do that before killing me. Then I could skip town and start up a new life under the name of Tickles the Clown and be part of Cirque de Solei.

I really think I'm going to regret this… uh oh. I'm in some serious need of either some really good advice, or therapy. Or both.


	19. Chapter 19

Max's POV

So class was completely uneventful. And actually, every class during the day was boring after the Dylan and Lissa thing. But at lunch something happened that I so wasn't expecting.

Fang didn't sit with the rest of us at lunch. He claimed he was going to try sitting with a new group of friends and before we could ask who, he just left us standing in line at the cafeteria buffet.

So Nudge, Iggy, Ella and her friends, and I all sat together and were happily enjoying the gross cafeteria food and exchanging stories when I spotted Fang again.

I started to wave to him, but then he sat down at the jock and cheerleader table. I think I blacked out or something, because the next thing I know, Nudge is waving mashed potatoes on a fork in front of my face, and Ella is fanning a chocolate chip cookie under my nose. I snatched the cookie and ate it, much to her disappointment, and then everyone else started asking me if I was okay, and what was the problem

I couldn't even speak. I just kept staring at Fang and the jock table. Ella caught my line of sight and gasped. She started whispering to Nudge and the others what was going on, and Nudge grabbed my head and forcefully tore my head away from their table. Unfortunately, she pushed my head a little too hard and she dunked my head into my mashed potatoes. My nose, and eyes were caked in potato-y goodness now, and Nudge was begging me not to kill her.

All I did was wipe the guck off my face and take my book out and read. I didn't even touch the rest of my food. I just re-read the story about the girl stuck in her glass prison.


	20. Chapter 20

Fang's POV

It didn't take Max more than maybe two seconds to spot me at Lissa and Dylan's table. Lissa wouldn't leave me alone though. She was practically sitting in my lap by the end of the lunch period! It was totally gross. I mean, most guys don't think girls have cooties after the age of 13, but she was totally making me rethink that!

And Dylan kept slapping me on the back, eating like a filthy pig, and joking about stuff that was completely not funny at all. Not to mention he kept asking me every five minutes if I played a different sport, and trying to convince me to enter the football, basketball or swim team.

When the lunch period was finally over I had a mixed-grade art class. Our entire group was there. Ella, Iggy, Nudge, Max and me of course. And thankfully, Dylan and Lissa weren't in that one.

I was immediately pulled into the room by Nudge. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me forcively to an easel close to the windows. Then she started ranting at me.

"You (bad word censored)! Do you have any idea what you've done! Of course you don't! You're too busy cuddling up to that slut, Lissa, and that douche, Dylan! I mean, what is the MATTER with you! You HATE sports and you've always thought that stuck up, cheerleaders were idiots! Do you have ANY idea what you've done to Max? She didn't EAT! MAX DIDN'T EAT! THAT'S LIKE THE APOCOLYPSE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE! SHE JUST KEPT READING AT LUNCH TODAY! SHE'S REGRESSING, FANG! REGRESSING! DO YOU WANT HER TO TURN NERD AGAIN!" She was shaking me by the collar and shouting at this point. Although I felt terrible about how Max was feeling now, I couldn't help feeling like things were all going according to plans.

"We never saw her as a nerd, Nudge. How bad could she be?" And with that, Nudge, my non-combative, peace-loving sister, slapped me clear across the face and sat down in a huff at her easel.

That kind of hurt. I mean, it isn't as strong as some of the punches I've gotten from some guys before, but seriously, THAT HURT!

I guess I'm just glad I didn't get smacked by Max. That would have hurt emotionally 1 billion times worse.

…

….

….

….

….

Hi there everybody. I've been told to make these authors notes so here I go…

First of all, I hope you all like my stories so far. This one (Match) and then I've also written two other stories (I'm New at This) and (My Name is Max). So far, this one is the longest, but I'm a quick updater, so hopefully I can update and possibly finish each one of these stories.

Also, I want to throw a shout out to another awesome fanfic writer out there, who has been my biggest supporter so far... Trinity The Crazy! Thanks a lot, you're awesome! Please read her fanfic as well, called (My Angel of Death).

And to everyone else out there... PLEASE REVIEW! I CRAVE your opinions. Love you all. :)

So, anyways… that should be about it for now, and… uh… here's a random quote from one of the Max. Ride books…

"_Have you guys been playing in toxic waste again?" Fang asked severely, putting his hands on his hips._

_Nudge giggled. "No."_

_"Been bit by radioactive spider?" Fang went on. "Struck by lightning? Drink a super-soldier serum?"_

_"No, no, no," said Iggy. __He started reaching for things around the table and his hands landed on Total. "You're black."_

_"I prefer canine-American."_


	21. Chapter 21

Max's POV

I think I'm still shell-shocked or something. I mean, it's the first day of art class, and the teacher tells us to paint what we're feeling for fun today. And I'm taking my paint brush and stabbing a stick-figure picture of Fang right now.

Ella keeps patting my back sympathetically, and Nudge is at the moment… oh, look at that, she's slapping Fang across the face. Not like he didn't DESERVE it.

I need a book. I need to get out of these fancy clothes Ella had me put on for the first day of school. And I need to go home and eat some of mom's cooking. Cafeteria food just won't cut it right now. I can't eat unless it's a plate of her homemade chocolate chip cookies! Meh! I think I'm gonna cry. And I NEVER cry! Fang is such a (bad word). Oh, look at that, I poked a hole through fake-Fang's head. Sorry fake Fang, I don't have anything against you. Maybe I can poke a hole through real Fang's head. Yup. Sounds like a plan.

"What are you doing?" A random girl next to me asks.

"Poking an imaginary hole through my ex-best friend's head." I say seriously.

"That kid over there?" She points to Fang.

"Yup."

"The kid that African American kid just b&^% slapped across the face." She raises and eyebrow.

"You got that right." I tell her, not even knowing why I'm so casually talking to this random stranger.

"I say you confront him later and do what she just did. What did he do to you exactly?" She asks.

"He CLAIMED to be my best friend then ignores me for most of the summer. Then he watched me get angry at Lissa and Dylan, the jock and jockette of the school, and now he hasn't stopped hanging around with them all day till now. It's like he's purposefully trying to annoy me, even though he CLAIMS to be my best friend." I rambled.

"Sorry to hear that." Another girl across from me says. "I had an old boyfriend who did that to me too. Turns out he was cheating on me." She said sadly.

"Yeah, but don't you remember, J.J.? I sucker punched him in the gut and kicked him in the balls the next day, silly." The girl I'd started talking to said.

"What are your names, again?" I asked.

"J.J., stands for Jenifer Joy. My parents are crazy." The girl across from me rolled her eyes.

"Lupo Greyback. We're both juniors this year. She's been my bff since kindergarten, though. Where have I seen you before, you look familiar, but something's not ringing a bell." She told me.

"Maximum Ride. I've been the Maximum nerd these past few years. Complete with the glasses, braces, frizzy hair and nose in a book. Not to mention perfect grades."

"Oh yeah, I remember you! You outsmarted the teacher that one year! That was totally awesome, by the way." J.J. said.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying to lay off the nerd-dom this year to make some actual friends. And my first step to this new look was getting Lissa and Dylan off my back. What I didn't realize was that Fang over there, my new neighbor/'so called' best friend would turn my total enemy into his practically girlfriend within two class periods."

"It is pretty sick." Lupo said. "Want me to deal with them?"

"Nah, I've got that whole 'beat the crap out of him' thing covered. I can handle myself physically. What I can't do right now is understand why this is getting to me so bad. SHOULD I feel like it's okay to smash his head in? Or am I overexhagerating?"

"You have every right to be mad." Ella steps in. "Hi, I'm Ella." She introduced herself to Lupo and J.J.

"You going to be alright for today?" Ella whispers.

"I'll be fine. But remind me never to speak to him again." I told her, Lupo, and J.J.

"Don't worry, we're by your side; got your back." They all smiled evilly. This is going to be a fun day.

…

…

…..

….

Hi again, everybody. Just a quick note. I just wanted to post another shout out to another new friend of mine, here on fanfic, and another up and coming fanfic favorite, MPHknows. She wrote the story (Mixed Love Story) and she's the inspiration for my newest character, Lupo Greyback. Please keep reviewing my stories, and please review for hers and Trinity The Crazy's as well. Thanks everybody!


	22. Chapter 22

Max's POV

"Worst day ever!" I shouted as I ran up the stairs, turned on my reading lamp and tore through pages and pages of books within the time between coming home from school and dinner.

When mom got home, Ella explained what had happened to me at school today, and she immediately set out to make me a 'cheer-up' batch of chocolate chip cookies.

By that time, I'd pretty much skipped lunch, skipped snack, and it was close to dinner time, so I was starving. Mom understood and just handed me the tray of twenty cookies and let me go back up to my room to wallow in my misery. I love my mom.

That's when the phone rang. It was Nudge, and she was begging Ella and I to come to a party with her. I immediately said 'no' when Ella shoved the phone in my face, but neither of them would have it. Within two minutes, Nudge was at our doorstep banging on our door furiously.

"OPEN UP, MAX! I'M COMING IN WHETHER YOU WANT ME TO OR NOT." And then she broke into my house. SHE FREAKING BROKE INTO MY HOUSE!

Ella had been in my room with me since I brought the cookies up there, and she kept stealing MY cookies. So when Nudge entered the bedroom all I could do to hide my frustration was stuff another cookie in my mouth and burry my face into my pillow.

Nudge came in and asked how I was doing, as if I wasn't even there, and Ella said I was in the wallow-in-self-misery phase. I was NOT crying however. Just clearly p.o'ed.

"We're taking her to that party." Nudge said authoritatively.

"I'm with you Nudge, she NEEDS this party to gain social interaction. But she has had a hard day." Ella reasoned.

"Yeah, but that's the thing. I'm MAKING Fang go too. Ad we're going to make Fang jealous of what he's missing." Nudge said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh no. OH NO. NONONONONONONONONONO!" I screamed as I flipped myself off my bed and hid underneath it. I then barricaded myself underneath with all my pillows, stuffed animals, and most importantly my books. "I'm just going to sit here under my bed, and READ for the rest of my life. I'm NOT going to any party!" I screamed furiously.

"Get her." The two of them said simultaneously, and they proceeded to try and tear down my barricading wall.

"No, Ella, Nudge, stop it! No, not my books! NOOOOO!" I screamed as the started flinging my poor, defenseless books across the room and smashing into the wall.

"This is for your own good!" Ella grunted as she tried to heave me out from under my bed.

"This has to count as brutal assault! Let me go! I know my rights! Anything you say or do will be held against you in the court of law, and ELLA so help me if you touch another one of my books, I'm bringing you and Nudge both up on felony charges, be d^&%#$ if you're related to me! Weeoohweeoohweeooh!" I screeched as loud as I could.

Mom poked her head in and surveyed the scene. Me, halfway in midair, thanks to Ella now holding my feet and Nudge scrambling to reach my hands under my bed, since I was digging claw marks in my floor board. My books strewn all over the room, my stuffed animals piled on top of dressers, my bed, my end-table, even me! "What's going on in here?" She asked slowly.

"We're taking Max out to a party to get her to stop being such a bookworm." Nudge said politely.

Then Ella dropped my feet and I landed painfully on my knee. "OW!" I winced and pulled myself under the bed.

"Yeah, it's for her own good. We'll be back by 10, though, don't worry." Ella smiled and put on an 'innocent' face.

"Okay, have fun girls." Mom smiled and walked away.

"NOOOOOO, MOOMMMYYYY!" I screamed, but I could hear her chuckling down the hallways. Never mind, my mother is only good for cookies. Meh!

After almost thirty minutes, they'd finally managed to drag me out from under my bed, and they locked me in the bathroom with a mini-skirt, tight t-shirt that showed some stomach, and a bag of makeup and hair supplies.

"I'm NEVER going to wear this!" I cried from the bathroom.

"Fine, then we'll just tear pages out of each one of your books." Ella said evilly.

"Not my books!" I screamed at them.

"Oh yeah, well how about your cookies then? There's still five left here, I bet they taste amazing, don't you think Ella?" Nudge taunted.

"You wouldn't." I hissed.

All of a sudden I hear paper ripping, and someone taking a big bite of food, and savoring the taste. Yeah, I could hear all that through the bathroom door.

"ALRIGHT! I'm putting on the slut-wear. Just give me a minute!" I begged.

I NEVER BEG! This is going to be a looooonng night.


	23. Chapter 23

Fang's POV

Iggy said this kid asked him to go to his house tonight for a first-day-of-school party. Now, I would NEVER go, but unfortnetely, he'd asked me at school, in front of Lissa and Dylan, who of course, said they'd be there no matter what, and then Lissa begged me to come too.

I would never be doing this if Max had just asked me out in the first place!

Anyways, so now I'm walking over to this kid's house with Iggy, and he said he'd meet up with some friends there, so I was free to hang out with the jocks or whoever. And I quote.

So anyways, I'm walking into this huge house, for a party hosted by some random kid at our school, and of course, five steps into the house, I'm practically tackled by Lissa and I'm headlocked somehow with Dylan. AT THE SAME TIME! Is that even possible?

Lissa is wearing even sluttier clothes than she was at school, and Dylan is purposefully wearing his football jersey. They both grab me and pull me over to the dance floor to hang out with their friends, and I feel like I'm going to hurl. It smells like sweat and obnoxious perfume! And on top of that, I DON'T dance. And third, Lissa keeps getting waaay to close to my personal space bubble.

Anyways, about a half hour into the dreaded party, I notice a commotion at the door. I see Nudge, then Ella, then, Max?

Nudge was wearing a simple black dress, Ella wore a pink top and red skirt, and Max…. Max is wearing a denim miniskirt, and a silver and pink, TIGHT top. And I hate to say it, but I've never thought anything in this world could look so amazing.

This is so not going to work. I know exactly what Max, Nudge and Ella planned. I ruined Max's life at school today, this is payback. And I know it.

Lissa, Dylan and the whole crew shut up immediately and stared openly at Max. Have they no shame? And as soon as Lissa starts seeing me glancing at Max, she starts glaring at her and at me. What? I'm not the ONLY one looking? Right?

Max walks right up to us and she says, "Hi everyone, great party right? Well, I'm going to go get some food over at the snack table. See you all around." And with that she whipped her hair around for dramatic effect, and yes, it was VERY dramatic, and then walked away. I think I stopped breathing or something there for a second.

"What a hottie!" One jock whistled.

"That's dorky Max from last year? The braniac?" A cheerleader asked in her nasaly, valley-girl, screechy tone of voice.

"I'm going to go get some air." I said and walked away before anyone could stop me.

"What's his problem?" One of Lissa's friends asked Lissa.

I didn't even bother waiting for Lissa's reply, though, I was headed for the snack table, asap.

Before I could make it over to Max and the others who were crowded around the snack table, looking like they were ACTUALLY having fun, a curly, blonde haired-boy went up to Max and asked her to dance.

I practically had steam coming out of my ears, and my heart was pounding a million times a minute. He couldn't dance with Max! It'd ruin everything!

"Who's that?" I asked Ella nonchalantly.

"Why do you care?" Ella asked back. Now I KNOW this was a setup.

"It's Sam. He's a senior. And he just asked Max to dance, and oh looky there, it looks like she accepted." Nudge said, glaring furiously at me.

"Fine, you got me. I like Max, you girls all win, okay? I hate the jocks and cheerleaders, they're stuck up, pompous, idiot, slutty airheads, and you know what? I'm just as bad as they are! I wanted Max to ask me out because she basically ignored me all summer, even though we're best friends. I wasn't even necessarily looking for us to go out as a couple or anything, but at least as friends. And now that's all ruined because she hates my guts, and that loser senior, Sam just asked her to dance." I said in one breath. And all of my real friends and family members turned to stare at me like I'd grown fifteen heads.

"Wow. That's the most I've heard him say in my entire life!" Iggy laughed hysterically, getting everyone else to join in.

When everyone had calmed down from their laughing-at-me-fest, Nudge said, "Fine, you've convinced us you're just as big a douche as Dylan and the rest of them, but now you got to convince Max. She was so torn up today. Do you realize that you may have not only ruined your chances with her as a girlfriend, but as a friend as well? Find some way to convince her that you are serious about what you just told us, and then MAYBE she'll SLOWLY start forgiving you."

A slow song started to play from the speakers, and I knew this would basically be my only chance. I did the most rash, possibly stupid thing I could ever possibly do in my life. I was about to cut in on Max and Sam's slow dance.

…

…

…

…

Hi guys, I just want to thank all my reviewers so far, I'm so excited to see so many people liking my stories. Anyways, I want to throw another shout out to Jace'n'FangLover, for giving me the next chapter's story idea. Thank you so much for your ideas, and keep reviewing everybody. The more reviews I get the more I'll post! Luv you all!.


	24. Chapter 24

Max's POV

I knew Fang was watching me like a hawk the minute Sam dragged me over to the dance floor. I was extremely nervous to be dancing with a senior, but I was more nervous about Fang's reaction to me dancing with this senior.

Sam was polite enough, but as the song began to get more intimate, so did Sam. Instead of a good foot worth of space between us, he pulled me flush up against him. Then he basically dragged my head towards his shoulder, forcing me to lay my head on his shoulder. I wouldn't have minded putting my head there if I'd actually known the guy better, and if he'd been less forceful about it, but it just seemed off right now.

I kind of panicked. It wasn't even like Sam was actually doing anything wrong, but I felt a little bit trapped, and uncomfortable with him. So I was about to ask to leave for a drink or something, when Sam unexpectedly pulled away. I looked behind him, only to see Fang tapping Sam on the shoulder.

I nearly wet myself, holding back both my rapid-firing nerves and smothering my giggles. He looked so ridiculously embarrassed at tapping Sam's shoulder to interrupt us, and he looked like he had no clue what to say.

"What do you want, man?" Sam asked, as though Fang had interrupted something important.

"Um, can I cut in?" Fang asked uncertainly.

"No, dude, find your own date." He said uncaring.

"I just want to talk to her for a minute. That's all." Fang said, trying to reason with Sam, reason with me, just by glancing at the two of us.

"Um, I don't think so. Now walk away, bro." Sam said and began to lead us away from Fang.

"Max, please, just let me talk to you. Please." Fang begged. Fang was begging to talk to ME.

"Can you give me a minute, Sam?" I asked nicely.

"Just ignore him and he'll go away." Sam said and forcefully put my head on his shoulder again.

"No!" I said angrily at him and pulled myself from off his shoulder.

"What? What's the matter with you?" Sam said, just as angrily.

"I just want to talk to him for a minute, that's all." I said, trying to stay rational, and reason with HIM now.

"Come on, baby, let it go. Let's just dance." Sam said, and pulled my wrist to get me to come closer to him.

"No, Sam, no!" I said and he pulled me up against him again. "Would you just STOP IT!" I growled at him.

"Dude, LET HER GO." Fang growled from behind Sam.

"Oh god! What the h*** do YOU want NOW!" Sam yelled, causing a commotion all around us. Several people started gathering in a circle around the three of us. I was still trying to push my way away from Sam, and Fang was now trying to pry me off him, with little to no success.

I held onto Fang's hand and could have sworn I felt a spark course through my system the minute his hand touched mine, but it was too quick to tell. Plus, I was more concerned about getting the h*** away from the idiot having a vice grip on my other hand.

"Let go of her!' Fang yelled at Sam.

"Why don't you go ruin someone else's party, huh!" Sam yelled back.

"Um, guys, I'm not a tug of war rope, and Sam LET GO OF MY HAND THIS INSTANT!" I bellowed.

"Fine, take her!" Sam grinned and instead of simply letting go of my hand, he threw me into Fang, who attempted to catch me, but only ended up hitting the snack table in the process and landing hard on his hand.

"Ow, ah f^&*! Jeez!" Fang grimaced. His hand was pooled in blood and his forearm was at an odd angle.

"Fang!" I shouted and ran over to him, as did Ella, Nudge, Iggy and the rest of our friends.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, tears pooling to my eyes. My stupid payback game probably broke Fang's arm.

"I think I need to go to the hospital." Fang said through clenched teeth.

"No need, we'll go to my house. My mom's a doctor." I said hurriedly, and hoisted Fang up off the ground.

"No she's not, she's a vet." Ella whispered to me, as I put pressure on the wound on Fang's arm.

"It'll be fine, she can handle his injury no problem." I whispered back.

"One sec." Fang said, and stepped away from me and towards Sam for a minute.

"Dude, you are seriously messed up." He said emotionlessly. Then he punched Sam square in the jaw with his good arm and Sam felt the awesome experience of flying for about three seconds before hitting the back of his head hard against the table behind him.

"You son of a…" Sam began.

But I'd grabbed Fang and put pressure on his bad hand again and said, "Oookay, let's go, party's over, Fang." And rushed us out of the house before anyone else could lay another punch on someone else.


	25. Chapter 25

Max's POV

As soon as we left the party, Fang and I, along with his family and mine, quickly ran to my house with Fang's arm dripping blood all the way.

The minute mom opened up the door and saw Fang dripping in blood and tears running down my cheeks, she opened the door as wide as possible and ushered us all inside as quickly as possible. "Go straight into the bathroom, I'll go grab my medical kit. Have Fang sit down immediately, and try to keep him awake. Don't let go of the pressure on his arm!" Mom yelled the last part since she was already flying up the stairs to go retrieve the first aid kit.

We all ran Fang into the bathroom, but mostly just me, since I had his bad arm in mine, doing exactly what mom had said. Iggy flanked Fang's other side to keep him from falling down in a heap, since Fang was already looking a bit woozy.

Mom rushed back into the bathroom and asked everyone except for Iggy and me to politely leave, and they did just that. Ella called everyone into the kitchen so that they wouldn't be crowding the hall bathroom.

"He going to be okay Dr. M?" Iggy asked.

"He'll be fine. I'll set his arm, and it wasn't a bad break, in fact, it's a good thing it was a clean break, it'll actually be easier to fix now. I'll just finish stitching up the wound and then I'll but it in a cast and sling, and he should be good to go. Though he looks like he lost some blood, so he might feel a bit dizzy and light-headed right now, so help him get straight to bed tonight, okay Iggy?" Mom said to him.

"Of course. Do you need me to get anything for you? Or are you pretty much done here?" Iggy asked my mom.

"Um, how about you go grab a juice box and a few of the leftover cookies from the pantry for Fang to eat to get his blood sugars a bit higher, and Max, why don't you grab the old sling we have in the attic?" Mom said.

Iggy went to go grab the things Fang needed, but I was compelled to stay with Fang for some unknown reason. I felt like if anyone should be in here, it was me. Like it was either a punishment for me to watch him suffer since me, and my stupid jealousy, had caused the problem in the first place, or because deep down I knew that Fang might want me here over anyone else. Either that, or he'd be completely P.O'ed with me, and want to have me in close firing range to blow up at. Whatever the reason, I knew I had to stay with Fang, so I said to mom, "Mom, until Fang leaves to go home, can I please stay with him? I feel like this is all my fault."

By this time, Fang was way too out of it to even know what was going on. He just sat there on the toilet seat with his head down, his arm out in front of him so mom could work on it, and the rest of him just looked totally slumped over. Mom took in his sad appearance, and nodded at my request.

"Honey, I don't know what happened tonight, and part of me really doesn't want to know. But are YOU alright?"

"Yeah, of course, nothing happened to me, just Fang got his arm…"

"I know what happened to Fang's arm sweetie, I just finished bandaging, stitching, disinfecting and wrapping it up in a sling… just not all in that order. I mean, are you going to be okay after tonight? I mean, are you and Fang friends again, did someone hurt you at that party, is there anything that I need to know?" She said in that motherly tone… you know the one.

"Fang protected me against this idiot jerk who started being too clingy at the dance. But when they actually fought for me, I just knew something bad was going to happen. The idiot I was originally dancing with threw me into Fang and Fang landed on the snack table, hence the broken arm. Then, even with his broken arm, he punched the guy clear across the room." I told her, while still dripping in tears.

"Wow, he fought for you." Dr. M looked down at Fang who HAD to be unconscious by now, otherwise he just looked plain old dead.

"I feel so bad though. If I hadn't gotten all dressed up, or gone to the party, or danced with that jerk, then Fang wouldn't be hurt, and I wouldn't be such a mess right now. And I do mean more than the blood on my outfit. I wanted to burn this outfit the minute Ella and Nudge put it on me!" I cried.

"Sweetie, it's okay. Just calm down. You've just had a rough day. Why don't you let me take care of Fang, and I'll see if I can have Fang stay at our place tonight. We'll move him to the family room couch. He'll probably have a hard time getting to his own house anyways. So if you want to help, just calm down, get changed and come back down with the rest of us. I'll grab the sling from the attic, and when Iggy gets back he can feed Fang to help him get his strength back." And with that she gave me a hug, and sent me out the door and straight up to my room to shower and change.

After one of the fastest showers I've ever had, I rushed out of the bathroom and threw on a black tank top and checkered shorts and ran back downstairs. By that time, mom and Iggy were hauling Fang into the family room, and I helped guide them towards the sofa. Iggy had managed to wake Fang up some, and was now handing him the juice and cookies. Fang looked pretty silly, huddled in a blanket, one hand in a sling, another just barely holding two cookies and a juicebox, bags under his eyes, and a silly scowl planted on his face. He looked like a two year old who'd just had a temper tantrum.

I couldn't help laughing, and everyone's eyes shot over to me. Even mom's questioning glance only got me laughing harder. Then everyone joined in, and the whole house was full of almost hysterical laughter.

I sat down next to Fang and helped him with his juice box and cookie, and once he'd downed both, mom gave him some medicine for the pain, and Fang fell right asleep.

"Alright everybody. It's 10:30, and the Martinez house is shutting down for the night. Everyone back home if you don't live here!" Ella shouted. And Nudge, Iggy, Lupo and J.J, who'd all accompanied us back home, called their parents to schedule rides home, or just left.

By 11, everyone was gone, and it was just mom, Ella, Fang and I all staring at one another in the family room. Actually, Fang wasn't staring, since he was passed out on our couch now.

"Well, I'm going to bed." Ella said, and with that she gave mom and I each a hug and went upstairs.

"I could stay down here if you like honey, or would you rather be here?" Mom asked.

"I'll stay." I said without even glancing over at her.

"Fine, but get some sleep hon. You still have school tomorrow." She said with a warning gaze.

"You know that I'll be ready for school tomorrow no matter what today was like. Not like I could, I don't know, fail a test or something. We just started, and I already know all the info, you know that." I said with a fake smile.

"Well I'm not worried about your test scores, I'm worried about your teachers' blood pressures the minute they see you sleeping on your desk again." Mom said while giving me a hug and kiss and going up to bed. "Night, sweetheart."

"Night mom." I said back, then I flipped on the tv.

Fang was still out cold, but I wasn't falling asleep voluntarily any time soon, so I might as well not bore myself all night.


	26. Chapter 26

Fang's POV

I woke up and thought I'd just woken up from a hangover. In fact, I was feeling EXACTLY like a person should after a hangover. I tried to get up off whatever it was I was laying down on, and found that my left arm wouldn't move, like it was constricted or something, and I had been lying down on my right arm all night so my other arm was pretty useless right now too. I decided then to roll off whatever I was laying on.

Not smart.

I landed with an 'oof' on the floor, which woke whoever was sleeping on the couch opposite mine.

It was still dark outside, probably sometime in the early morning, but the tv was blaring some lame commercial, so I could kind of see the face of the person I'd woken up from their beauty sleep.

Max.

"Fang, you okay?" She asked sleepily as she pealed herself off her couch and came over to my couch to help me off the floor.

I grunted in response, and she helped me to sit back on the couch.

"Are you fully awake, or are you like… sleep… uh, grunting?" she asked me.

"I'm awake." I mumbled. Though I felt like I was in a dreamland still.

"Can we talk about what happened. Because I feel like it's all my fault. I'm so sorry you got hurt, Fang. I must be the worst best friend in the history of best friends." She said sadly.

"Nah, I acted like a jerk to you all summer and then yesterday at school. You had every right to act the way you did at the party." I said back to her.

"Well, do you think we can put all this aside for a while. I do have a question, however." She told me.

"What?"

"Why did you ignore me all summer? It seemed like you were either always busy with something, or up in your room doing who knows what. You never came and asked me to hang out, or even asked the group of us to hang out with you. And I don't know, I just feel like that's what got this all started." She said bluntly.

"But I thought YOU were ignoring ME!" I practically shouted, but lowered my tone when I saw her flinch in response.

"I'm sorry if you thought that. But really, I figured you've had at least one or two friends before me, and I have literally had none in my entire life. I wasn't sure if it was right for me to ask you to do stuff with me, or if you were going to ask me, or whatever. I just got confused, and I'm sorry." Max said.

"I'm sorry too. I should have known you were just confused and didn't know what to do about me. I was so stupid to not see that, Max."  
>"Friends?" She asked.<p>

I was secretly hoping we could discuss being more than friends, but her eyes seemed to be conveying that she did want us to be friends, really badly. I just wasn't sure if she felt that we should be more than friends… like I felt.

So I did the second stupidest thing I've probably done in my entire life.


	27. Chapter 27

Max's POV

Oh my god. Fang just kissed me!

It was like a bajillion fireworks going off at the same time. Like an opera singer on the highest note. Like a balloon that popped right in front of our faces.

Weird analogies, right? Well I don't care! My brain fizzled out the moment he kissed me. Maybe I should do that more often… at least then I'd have less brain cells, and then wouldn't be a nerd anymore. Plus, you know, kissing him was, I don't know… Amazing!

Though I'd never admit that out loud and make him have a big ego or whatever.

"Sorry, I had to do that." Fang said. And it made me laugh when he said that. "Why are you laughing?" Fang asked, though now there was humor in his voice and it looked like he was holding back laughter as well.

"I… chuckle… don't… chuckle… know… full out lmao." I wheezed.

That made him laugh too. So for several minutes we just kept laughing at each other and our silly, ridiculous faces we kept making while trying to stop laughing.

"So what does this all mean?" I finally was able to ask.

"I guess I got to ask you how you felt about that." Fang said seriously now.

"Well, I guess it was pretty good. It was my first kiss. It wasn't a TOTAL disaster." I teased.

Fang huffed. "Alright, well then I guess it wasn't a TOTAL disaster for me either."

"But where does that put us now? Friends? More than friends?" I added.

"I've had enough of the feuding between us in the past day or so to last a life time. So I say at the very least friends. But I say it's your call if you want to be more than friends." Fang explained.

"Can you give me a day to think about it? All of this has me very confused. But for now, at LEAST friends, okay?"

"That's fine by me. We cool then?" He asked.

"We're cool." He said with a smile. A real, genuine smile.

I couldn't help it, I gave him a hug. A real genuine hug, as real as his real, genuine smile.

…

…

…

I know, I know. Corny ending to this chapter. But I had to end it somewhere, right? ;)


	28. Chapter 28

Ella's POV

I know it's rude to snoop and whatever, but I KNEW something juicy was going to happen when Fang woke up. So I spied on Max and Fang all night.

Mostly all that happened was that they slept, or Max watched tv, but things got really good when Fang woke up.

I heard an 'oof' when he hit the ground, then Max ran over to help him up. Awww…

Anyways, after helping him back on the sofa, she and he began to talk about their problems and they wanted to make sure they were okay. And then out of the blue, Fang KISSED Max.

My big sis is growing up! Double awwwwwww!

I knew by that point that whatever happened should be left private, so I left the room. But I knew then, and there, that I would have a lot of work to do with Max.

She's just too stubborn for her own good!

Max's POV

Although I might've gotten five hours of sleep if I was lucky, I was still somewhat excited to go to school tomorrow.

Fang was my friend again, and I was interested to see how Lissa, Dylan and the populars were going to take the recent turn of events.

Next, I was excited because besides Fang and his family, I also now had two new friends; J.J. and Lupo.

And that's pretty much it. But it's not bad for the beginning of the second day of school.

"Morning Max. How did you… ahem… sleep?" Ella said with a sly smile.

I didn't even bother to react, "How much did you see?" I said with a sigh.

"You and Fang are SUCH a cute couple! Is he going to take you to Homecoming this year? Or prom next year? OMG! We have to tell Nudge still! Let's hurry! Come on, forget breakfast, everyone knows that it's NOT the most important meal of the day. PLEASE LET'S GO!" She yelled as I grabbed my last piece of jelly on toast and my backpack before she dragged me by the arm out of the house.

"Eeeelllaaaaaa! Stooooop!" I whined. "Fang and I aren't a couple. He kissed me, and asked me if I wanted us to be a couple, and I said I had to think about it."

Ella seemed sad at this. But her devious smile formed on her face, and it immediately creeped me out. She let go of my hand and we slowed our pace a bit going to the bus stop.

Fang had left early in the morning, so he could get ready for school, and we met him at the bus stop along with Nudge and Iggy. Things seemed pretty normal now between all of us.

Each one of them said hi to us, including Fang. And then Ella and Nudge started gossiping in a corner.

I started chatting about stuff with Iggy. Mostly what he'd done at the party before the big fiasco, and if he'd actually done the little bit of homework we'd all gotten yesterday, and stuff. Fang just stayed quiet, as he usually did.

But I guess quiet is better than flirting with my arch-nemisis any day.

Anyways, the bus got there and brought us all to school, and when we got there we all went immediately to our lockers and agreed to meet up again at the classroom. So we said goodbye to Ella and Nudge for the day and went in separate directions.

I grabbed all my books and stuff, and couldn't help but feel watched. I noticed a lot of people chatting about last night's party, and Fang's busted up arm, and well, my attire. So we kind of gathered a lot of attention around the school.

When I got to first period, Iggy was struggling with Fang's and his books, but I rushed to help him by taking the heaviest book and some other smaller school supplies out of his hands before he dropped them and ran into a wall.

Fang and Iggy both thanked me and we all went to our seats from yesterday. Of course, being about 15 minutes early didn't help, because five seconds later came Lissa and Dylan and their groupies.

"What happened last night Fang-y-poo?" She asked in a tone I figured was meant to be seductive, but really was just very annoying. I think Fang agreed with me.

"My name is either Fang, or Nick. NOT Fang-y-poo. And Sam and I got in a fight." Fang said.

I was already sick of their presences so I spoke up and said, "Look you two, could you please just leave us alone already?"

"Why should I listen to YOU? Boyfriend stealer!" She shrieked at me. But if you think I was cowering in a corner because of her outburst, you're dead wrong.

I took her prissy red hair and dragged her across the room and plopped her down into her desk. Then I said, "First of all, he's neither my boyfriend, nor yours. Second, get in my face one more time this year, and I swear not only your pride and hair will hurt." I growled.

She flinched and rubbed her no-doubt sore head.

Then I glanced back at Fang who was glaring daggers at Dylan. And Dylan was smirking his butt off. So I rolled my eyes and went back to get him.

I grabbed him by the ear and pulled him over to his desk and gave him a slightly altered speech that I'd given Lissa. "Mess with me, my friends, or anyone else in this school like the douche bag you are, and you will not only have a sore ear, and a drop twenty point on the manliness meter, but you also won't be reproducing for the next fifty years of your life. IF you live that long." I smiled sweetly, glared at him, flipped him the bird and walked back to Iggy and Fang who were both looking pretty impressed.

"That was AWESOME!" Iggy yelled, and I pinched him on the arm. "OUCH! Jeez Max, why'd you do that?"

"You can get on my nerves about as much as they can sometimes." I said nonchalantly. Fang smothered a giggle and put on his emotionless mask face again and then the teacher walked in and the lessons began.

….

….

….

Hey guys. I love all the positive feedback I've been getting from my reviews, but since you're so used to me posting so quickly, and since I'd really like to get more reviews, I'm not going to post ANYTHING till I get at least TEN NEW REVIEWS. Sorry, I know I sound like a jerk, but I just want to know what everyone thinks! Thanks again for reading though.

Fly on,

Caitysky


	29. Chapter 29

Hi Guys! I'm back! Thank you so much for posting the ten reviews like I asked, and now back to the story… CaitySky

Max's POV

One Week Later…

Fang and I acted as though nothing had happened that night, and we actually became better friends then we had been before. We went to the movies and saw 'Our Idiot Brother,' got ice cream with the whole family after school one day, and we were constantly going over to the other ones' house to do homework together. Well, actually, I just did my homework before they came over and helped Iggy with his and answered any questions Fang had. Wasn't like I didn't already know this stuff, duh!

Anyways, so life was finally calming down and I was finally getting used to having a more relaxed schedule at school, while having a bigger social life, when I heard the most horrible news in the world.

Ella ran into my room one afternoon while I was quickly finishing up an English assignment, and she was squealing at the top of her lungs something unintelligible. I covered my ears and shrieked over her, "ELLA! SHUT UP! I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!"

She took a deep breath and grabbed my by the shoulders and said, "They announced the theme and the date for this year's homecoming dance!" Then she shrieked again, officially splitting my eardrums.

She ran out of the room already whipping out her phone to text Nudge and squeal with her for the next few hours about the dreaded dance.

A few minutes later Iggy and Fang came by and we got started on their homework. I was sort of Iggy's unofficial tutor, since he was blind and couldn't do the homework by himself. But he was somehow really good at math and science even though he couldn't even see the numbers or problems. So I was mostly just helping him with English when he randomly brought up the dreaded topic again.

"I heard they were hosting a dance in about two weeks, I'm thinking about going. Can I ask Ella? Do I have your permission?" He asked seriously.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I don't hate you or thing you're too much of a creeper." I said with a smile.

"Too much?" He asked, pretend offended.

"Shut up and do your homework, Mr." I snapped at him, and Fang snorted under his breath, then turned his attention back to his homework.

When we'd finished it was dinner time and mom offered to let the boys stay over for dinner. We also got into the habit of eating at either house we liked that night or the one we were doing homework at that night, so tonight it'd just be mom, Ella, Fang, Iggy and me. The other night it was Nudge, Ella, mom and me. And so on.

But unlike the other nights we were eating together, tonight just seemed… awkward. You could practically see Iggy blushing from trying to eat a meal with Ella without saying something stupid. I bet he was also trying to think up some way to ask her and was having trouble. And then Fang didn't say anything at all either, which wasn't unusual for him, but it left the floor open for mom and Ella to talk.

"So I heard there's a dance coming up." Mom spoke up.

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p.'

"Are you finally going to go!" Ella said excitedly. She had probably just thought about the fact that I NEVER went to dances (never had and hopefully never will). "You HAVE to go this year! You finally have people to hang out with at the dance! You don't even have to find a date for Homecoming, everyone just goes as one big group. Come on, please!"

I could practically see Iggy's head droop out of the corner of my eye, and Fang perked up for some reason.

I shot her a look that clearly said, 'for the billionth time, shut up about it already you know I'll never go' but for the first time ever, she dared to glare back and it clearly said 'oh hells no! You're coming this year.' So basically I was screwed.

"We've got to go shopping! Mom, can we please go this weekend? Please please please?"

"Uh, sure, I guess so." Mom shrugged.

I'm doomed.

…

…

…

Please keep reviewing guys. Come on… it's not that hard, just click the review button at the bottom of the screen there. Pleeeeeaseee?

-CaitySky


	30. Chapter 30

Max's POV

So today I went shopping with Nudge, Ella and my mom, and I am sooooo not ever doing that again. Ella, Nudge and my mom each made me try on, like, five dresses each, and I finally found one that I liked on the edge of a wrack near the back of JCPenney's. I tried it on, and everyone agreed I looked great in it, and FINALLY we were able to leave. The best part of the day was when mom took us all out for ice cream afterwards. I ordered a large, double scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and even though everyone else ordered way less than me, I was the first one to finish.

When we got home I immediately called up Fang, Iggy, Angel and Gazzy and asked if they wanted to have a barbeque night at our house. When Ella overheard me on the phone offering to cook she screamed like a banshee, and I could swear that even without the phone in my hands, everyone next door could hear her scream.

"What the hell was that!" Iggy shouted from somewhere near the phone.

"That was Ella yelling about my cooking. I'll have mom cook, sheesh!" I yelled back at Ella.

She 'phewed' and we decided to meet up in a half an hour. At dinner we laughed, talked, and since the weather was still pretty nice out, we all went swimming for probably the last time this year.

Fang pulled me aside right before everyone was going to leave, and asked me a question I definitely wasn't expecting. "Would you like to come with me to Homecoming?" He asked bluntly.

"As a date?" I asked with a face I hope didn't look disrespectful, but also not too hopeful.

"Do you want it to be a date?"

"I don't know… I didn't think we'd talk much about… um, what happened the other night. But that's the only reason why I'd say let's go as a date and not just as friends. Plus, people would label us if we went together, you know?" I explained.

Fang just nodded. Then continued, "Well, it's up to you, but regardless, do you at least want to ride with me to the school at least, now that I've got my license?" He smirked.

"You got your license? When!" I nearly shouted.

"Only two days ago. I wanted it to be a surprise. Surprise!" he mocked being cheerful. I mean, Fang just DOESN'T do cheerful. Though he can pull of the cool kind of happy, and other emotions, whenever he rarely shows his emotions. But I burst out laughing at his 'cheerful' cheer.

"You're such an idiot." I said through a fit full of giggles. And just like Fang doesn't 'do cheerful,' I DON'T giggle. So we looked at each other funny for a second and then we both ended up full out laughing for a good five minutes.

"I say yes to the ride to the dance, but I don't know if it's a date yet, mind if I get back to you on it?" I asked him, once I'd finally caught my breath again.

"Fair enough." He said, and with that we went to join the rest of them at dinner.

"So what just happened?" Ella whispered to me as I was entering the kitchen.

"I MIGHT tell you later." I scowled at her, and she let it go. Smart girl.

After dinner the group of us all had a movie night and then they went home.

Ella cornered me after I'd come out of the shower. "SO WHAT'D HE SAY!" She screeched into my ear.

"Lower the volume ten million decibles, Ella." I said, massaging my no doubt ruptured eardrum. "He asked me to the dance, but we couldn't decide if it was just as friends or as… well, more than that. I said I'd get back to him on that. But it turns out he got his license, so he can at least drive me over, right?" I said, hoping for her approval, oddly.

Ella's dated guys before. Not like everyone in school, but enough guys to understand dating and the rules behind it. I was kind of hoping she'd take this as a good sign, and a good move on my part, without making it into a big scene.

Fortunate for her, she didn't do anything to annoy me. Instead she gave me a kind smile, a hug, and left it at that. She continued to dress me up like a Barbie doll like she always did every night this year, though. But she didn't even bring it up at all. Smart girl.


	31. Chapter 31

Fang's POV

Okay, so Max didn't turn me down to the ride to the Homecoming dance, but she and I both don't know where we stand as a 'couple.' So I have to make this night the most special night of her life, otherwise I have a feeling that most of the school's idiot boys will begin noticing her. Some already have.

On a side note, about five girls, Lissa included, asked me to be their dates to the dance, and I turned them all down, saying I already had a date. When they asked who, I just shrugged and walked away. Lissa in particular seemed redder than her hair when I said I had another date.

After school each day, instead of hiding up in my room, I'd either be doing homework, making plans for Homecoming night, or hanging out with our group.

I'd already found a suit and tie, and my 'nice' shoes, and I'd asked my parents if I could borrow their car for the night, since I'd be driving Max to the school. And of course, my last check on my to-do list was to the buy the ticket.

So I was sitting up in my room when I saw a light flickering from the window across from mine. Curious, I opened up my window, even though it was a little chilly outside, and I peered out. It wasn't too far from my ledge to the other ledge, so it wasn't too hard to see inside.

I came to the realization that night that the window directly across from my bedroom was none other than Maximum Martinez Ride's! She was having trouble with her reading light next to her bed-stand. I guessed that it was either out of battery or it was just plain dying. Poor little lamp. Wow, I'm going soft…

Anyways, so I watched her struggle with it and then eventually just give up on it, flopping down on her bed face down. That gave me the idea for a present for Max on Homecoming night…

Max's POV

It's finally the day of Homecoming. I've been reading as much as possible during the day because I can't read at night anymore. Darn that stupid reading lamp! Why'd it have to die on me the night before I discovered who murdered Mr. Hillside?

Oh well, point is, I've been up since 6:00 am on a Saturday reading since I went to bed at 10, way earlier than I usually do. What else was I supposed to do instead of reading, right?

Ella came barging into my room at around 10:30 am, and started rummaging through my closet, laying out my dress, shoes, tights, hair accessories, etc. She even brought in a whole boat load of her own nail polish and makeup. I immediately refused any sort of makeup, but she brushed me off and said that she'd compromise by only putting on foundation and lipgloss. She said I had perfect eyes, to which I blushed and refused the compliment. But she rolled her eyes and kept rummaging, getting all our stuff together for tonight.

At 2:00, we had lunch and Ella started to get ready for the dance. I kept reading. What is so exciting about a stupid dance anyways? Loud noise, food that might be spiked, and a bunch of hot smelly people in a dirty gymnasium doing inappropriate things. I don't exactly see the appeal. The only reason that I'm going is because pretty much everyone is going and Fang asked me to go with him (still not sure if this is a date or what).

At 3:00, Ella was all dolled up, showered, in her dress, makeup, hair up, everything. She looked like some sort of pop-diva princess in a hot pink dress with red trim. It actually looked really great on her.

But then she demanded I go take a shower. With a groan, I did, and came out in a robe, my hair up in a towel. She started with my hair first. She dried it with a hair dryer, brushed it, and put it into light curls. Then she had me put on the dress, tights, shoes, and black fingerless gloves I planned on wearing.

The dress was midnight blue with silver sequins going in a criss-cross pattern all the way up to the top portion where it was glittered and covered with black lace. It basically looked like the night sky at dusk. Then she finished with my hair by adding diamond gems into the corner to part my bangs, and she let my hair half up and half down. She added a little touch of glitter to the back where my hair cascaded down my back in curls.

Then she did my makeup. She put on barely noticeable lipgloss, but it really made my lips 'pop,' as she put it. And then added the foundation and a little blush.

She finally put down the makeup brush and fell down on my bed in a crumpled heap.

"Finally! I'm done!" She said, clearly exhausted. "But Max, you look AMAZING! You look like you ARE the night sky! Your hair's the moon, the glitter and gems are the stars, your dress and the sequins on the dress are the stars too, and the black and blue are the actual sky! I don't even think MY dress looks as good as yours." She grumbled.

"Ella, you look amazing. And besides, Iggy can't see." I pointed out.

"Oh yeah! I gotta go put on that nice-smelling lotion I got from the mall the other day! Thanks for reminding me Max!" and with that, she dashed out of the room.

I took that few moments to cautiously glance in the mirror at myself, ready to peel of layers of makeup, take out the glitter from my hair, and make myself look better, to my own standards. But I was surprised as to WHAT or WHO or whatever I saw in the mirror. I didn't see a Barbie-dolled up Maximum Martinez Ride the nerd. I saw Max, the new and improved, no-nonsense girl staring back at me in the most radiant dress I'd ever seen. I looked not just good, but amazing! And even though I was happy with the result of my transformation. I was secretly hoping someone else might notice the change too.


	32. Chapter 32

Fang's POV

So its 7:00, and I'm about to head over and pick up Max. My mom promised to drive Ella, Nudge and Iggy over because obviously Iggy can't drive anyone, and Ella promised to go to the dance with Nudge and Iggy. So I grabbed the gift for Max, made sure my outfit didn't have any big, glaring flaws, and sped outside and jogged up to the Martinez front door.

I rang the doorbell and waited anxiously as Dr. Martinez opened up the front door. "Oh my, don't you look great, Fang." She gushed. "Please, come in. Ella should be done with Max any minute now." So I sat down on the family room chair I usually sit in while doing homework at their house.

When Ella came running down the stairs she couldn't help herself as she flew into my arms and also gushed, "Omg! Fang you look amazing! And Max'll be down soon. I knew you were hot to begin with, but man, dude, you clean up good!" Then she let me go and asked, "When will Iggy be here? And where's Nudge?"

"Nudge had a last minute wardrobe malfunction, Iggy's trying desperately to get her attention so that she can tell him if he looks okay. Mom's trying to calm them both down, dad's downstairs watching tv." I shrugged my shoulders, but she kept staring at me. "Just give them five more minutes." I said, she smiled and happily bounced away. "Oh, and you look great too, Ella!" I shouted just as she disappeared from view.

"Thanks!" She called from down the hall, and I could help but chuckle a little. Dr. Martinez then tried to make small talk, which, with me, I'm sure was a little bit difficult, and I felt kind of bad about that too.

Not two minutes after Ella had disappeared, Max strode down the stairs, and Max's mom and I both stared up at her in wonder.

First of all, to see Max in a dress was already completely out of this world. But this particular dress made her look absolutely gorgeous. She wore a floor-length, short sleeve, blue dress, with a shimmering blue shawl. Look at me… I'm saying stuff like 'shimmering blue shawl!'

"Hey Fang." She said and blushed. Wait a minute, she blushed? Max blushed?

"Hey. You ready to go?" I asked her and she nodded.

Of course, what kind of parent would Dr. M be if she didn't take ten million pictures of Max and I before she finally let us get going to the dance?

But then we were on our way out the door. I opened the car door for Max and she slid in. Then I went around to the driver's side, started up the engine and headed towards the school.


	33. Chapter 33

Max's POV

Fang and I never did decide whether or not this was a date, or if we were just going to the dance as friends. So even though we were able to joke around like buddies in the car, it got really awkward when we got to the dance, and everyone saw us enter together. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'm pretty sure the moment I entered the gymnasium, every head in there turned towards me.

I immediately went over to J.J. and Lupo. They both wore knee-length dresses, and J.J.'s was purple and Lupo's was blue.

"You guys look amazing!" I said, and respectfully gave them each a hug. (I don't DO hugs usually, but I figured this was a special occasion).

"US! Max, YOU'RE the one who looks amazing! Where on this earth did you find that awesome dress!" J.J. squealed as she tested the fabric on my skirt experimentally.

"J.C. Penney's, why?"  
>"Uh… because I think after this dance, EVERYONE here is going to want to dress just like you tonight, Max. And I mean the boys too." Lupo said. We all laughed at Lupo's joke and then J.J. suggested we wait by the door for Ella, Nudge and Iggy to get here. We were a bit early. The doors were open and music was playing, but there were only about ten other kids in the gym at the moment.<p>

As J.J. and Lupo walked ahead, Fang whispered to me from somewhere just behind me, "Max, you DO look amazing tonight. Thanks for coming to the dance with me."

I shivered, but laughed it off, and Fang smiled at me. And I do mean literally SMILED! Like a genuine, not-emo-ish smile!

I was a bit stunned by his reaction, but I shrugged it off and went to join the girls.

A few minutes later the rest of our group came in and they all gushed over each others' outfits, and we FINALLY went inside. Though maybe I was a little quick to get excited about going in there.

It was PACKED. Completely. There were at least a thousand kids, a dj, and two GIANT speakers blasting music that would make each of us deaf by the time we were twenty if we listened to it on a regular basis.  
>I'm claustrophobic. Don't know why, don't know how, but I am. And as soon as I saw the crowd, on instinct, I shrank away from the sweaty, disturbing, dancing kids. I went into the corner and grabbed the first one of my friends I could to come with me. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, for me, I grabbed none other than Mr. Tall Dark and Not-Emo Tonight. He looked confused for a second then nodded in understanding.<p>

"Don't like crowds much, Max?" He asked sincerely.

I was already a little freaked and was already breathing a little hard, so I just nodded and he put his arm around my shoulder and whistled and pointed over to Lupo, J.J, Ella, Nudge and Iggy, gesturing them over.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"It's not so bad in this corner of the gym, right?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's not nearly as bad as getting caught in the middle of grinding teenagers… by the way, ew!" I said honestly.

"Well then, let's just hang out over here then. No harm in that, right?" He said.

"Thanks Fang." I managed to say over the blasting music, and the rest of our group came over with confusion written all over their faces.

"Why don't we just party over here." Fang said. "Fewer crowds, more room to dance, and honestly, I'm just a little bit freaked out that those two over there are completely ignoring the school's PDA." He said gesturing to a boy and girl who were grinding in probably the most disgusting way I'd EVER seen. Not that I'd actually SEEN anyone grinding before, but I could tell that this wasn't just 'dancing.'

"Cool by us." Iggy said. "I know I don't want to get caught in the middle of any of THAT!" He laughed and Nudge, Ella and he burst out into a fit of giggles.

"I wasn't much for the 'in' crowd anyways." Lupo said, and started dancing to the music.

We all followed her lead and danced too. Though all the stuff we did wasn't real dancing. It was a lot of jumping around, twirling with each other and when the songs got slow, I'd shrink away and stand by the wall.

After a few dances went by, and I'd already sat out of about three slow dances, another one played, and I groaned in frustration. It was fun to dance to the up-beat songs. But it was annoying every time a slow song played. It was like the DJ was TRYING to hook me and Fang up, but everything was just awkward.

As if on cue though, Fang came over, asked me to dance, and I shot a 'help me' glance at Ella. She shook her head and pointed, as if a mother was shooing her kid back into time out for the fifteenth time. Her glance clearly said, "Go dance, NOW!" so I didn't question it.

I took Fang's hand and he led me back to the floor. I put one hand on his shoulder, one in his right hand, and he put his hands on my waist and cupped my hand. We swayed back and forth and I wasn't sure where to look, what moves to do, or what I was supposed to say, if anything, so I just kind of swayed and stared at our intertwined fingers. He spun me around a few times, and then the dance was over, and we resumed our original dancing.

All night after that, whenever there was a slow song, Fang'd ask me to dance, I'd take his hand and we'd just sway back and forth. Eventually I think my panicked nerves calmed down and instead of being freaked by the crowds, nervous about dancing with Fang, and disturbed about the grinding kids in the center, I just kind of let things go. When Fang asked me to dance for about the third time, I put both my hands on his shoulders this time and we were closer than usual. And I braved looking him directly in the eyes.

Though it was dark in that gymnasium, even with the cool spotlight/strobe lights everywhere, I couldn't help but marvel at how dark Fang's eyes truly were. They were darker than the night sky I was trying to portray with my dress, darker than the black suit he was wearing, darker than pretty much anything I'd seen in my entire life. And I just kind of zoned in and zoned out for a while we were dancing. And you know what… I kind of liked it.

Hi guys, I just posted two chapters today, and I'm really sorry I haven't been able to post too many in over a month, but school's been pretty busy and I'm working afterschool now. So I'll keep writing if you guys promise to keep reviewing! For every five reviews, I'll post a new chapter, okay? See you soon… Caitysky


	34. Chapter 34

Max's POV

Finally, the last song played and we all danced our hearts out. Then the principle came on the loudspeakers and thanked us all for coming, and made us do a pep-assemble song. It was boring compared to the whole dance, but a lot of the cheerleaders and jocks were into it, so our group just kind of started gravitating towards the exit doors instead of sticking around and watching the singing jocks and cheerleaders.

Our group headed towards our cars and we agreed to meet up at Fang, Iggy, and Nudge's house for a sleepover night. J.J. and Lupo were invited too. So we went back to the house and immediately I went next door, got changed into my pjs and headed over to the neighbors' house. Ella held me up for a few minutes though because she INSISTED she had to shower, blow dry her hair, put on makeup and find the PERFECT pair of cute pjs to wear. I thought that was a waste of time considering one, the only people there were our friends and they don't care what we look like. And two, her sort of boyfriend is blind. So apparently I'm missing something there.

We decided to just pop in a movie and eat popcorn until we all eventually crashed for the night. But, before the movie started, Fang came over and pulled me aside. I don't know why, but I got a tingly feeling in my arm as he dragged me over to the kitchen which no one was in for the time being.

"Here." He said, and placed a little box in my hand.

"Huh, what's this?" I asked him. And I opened up the silver and black box.

"It's a gift. A thank you gift, I guess. For coming with me to the dance. And by the way, you looked absolutely amazing tonight." He told me.

I looked down at the now opened box and saw a little matchbox. Or what looked like a matchbox. It was actually a reading flashlight, shaped like a matchbox, and it had a string at the end, which I assume was so that it could be necklace if I wished it to be.

"What's this for?" I said with a chuckle.

"I saw the other night that your reading lamp broke, and I figured you are a late-night-reader. So I got you this because I knew you could use it. It's unique, like you. And because you're my perfect match, Max." He smiled, that totally sincere smile again. Then, before I could speak, he kissed me. Like the same as before. And the fireworks, bells and whistles, and sparks went flying, just like before.

When we pulled away, he took the necklace from my hand and unhooked it, "you want to wear it?" He asked me.

"S-sure." I said, still a little bit high from our kiss. Then I asked him, "Does this mean we're a couple now?" And immediately winced because that seemed a little too blunt.

"I would really like us to be." He replied, and I looked up quickly at him to see if he seemed sincere.

I nodded, and gave him a hug. Then he hooked the chain around my neck and we proceeded into the movie room so that no one would get too suspicious. It wasn't that we didn't want anyone to know we were together now, it was just that I was afraid they might think 'something' may have happened in the kitchen. And other than the awesome kiss, really, NOTHING happened. So chill people, pda is still under control!

I sat down next to Ella and Fang sat next to me on my other side. As the night wore on, I grew sleepier, so I think I may have ended up passing out, but I couldn't tell if I was dreaming, or still watching the movie.

Okay, so thank you so much for posting reviews everybody. I finally got five out of all of you. Thanks! And keep posting. Again, I will only post when I get five reviews each time. TTYL! -Caitysky


End file.
